Confessions of a Teenage Freak
by ShatteredxDreams411
Summary: From an incredible discovery came a plot that I was scared to find out about. But I knew that I had to in order to stop the dark future ahead. I guess that includes an empathetic brother, a Japanese time-traveler, and an indestructible cheerleader.
1. Genesis

Genesis

_Life and fate are completely two different concepts. Life is a cycle in which everything goes in order. Fate is an interruption in that cycle. Even if we don't plan on it. In fact the most extraordinary things happen because of fate. But also the most horrible and indescribable events happen because of fate as well. There's no way on planning on it. There's no way to see ahead of time. It just happens. Before the events that occurred on that fateful day, I didn't know those separate facts. I lived on my life like any other sixteen year old should…but I couldn't help to feel that something was missing. _

"Danielle…Ms. Petrelli?" my teacher's voice desperately tried to get my attention away from the window.

I turned my gaze over to him. "Yes, Mr. Jenkins?"

"Since you seem to feel free to pay attention over to what is happening outside instead of listening to me, why don't you tell us what year President Lincoln was assassinated?"

Both Mr. Jenkins and the whole class faced me with inquiring eyes. I gave the best answer my memory would give me.

"Uh…1809?"

He took off his glasses. "No. That was the year he was born. Please pay attention, Ms. Petrelli."

"Yes, Sir."

The last bell of the day rang throughout the room. I began gathering my things.

"That's all the time we have, but remember to turn in your history reports tomorrow."

As this statement was being made, I followed my classmates out of the door. I quickly hurried past them in attempt to get to my locker.

"Hey, Danni!" a familiar voice called for me.

I turned around, smiling. "Hey Cole."

Cole rushed over to my side. He gave me an incredulous expression. I didn't have to ask why though. I already knew.

"I cannot believe that you were dazing in class again," he said. "That's like the fifth time this week."

I only shrugged. "What can I say? History isn't exactly my favorite subject."

"But you've been doing it in _every _class."

"Now that I think about it, maybe it's just school itself."

"So what's in your head that just can't stop day-dreaming about?"

"It's not exactly a day-dream. It's more like a collection of thoughts."

I began to walk down the hall with him by my side.

"What are these collections of thoughts exactly?" he asked curiously.

"I don't exactly know. I guess I've been thinking about how I fit into the picture I'm in right now."

Cole stopped me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Danni, we've been through this before. Just because your brother is running for Congress, doesn't mean that you're an outcast."

I looked right into his blue eyes. "It's not about the campaign. I mean before that and now. You know how my foster family almost completely ignores me. I'm debating whether or not this family is the right fit for me."

"OK, first of all: that's not really for you to decide. Second: it's a little too late to decide the right fit for you now."

"I know that. And I also know that if I was to jump off of a cliff one day and die, they wouldn't notice until weeks later that I had disappeared. At least Angela and Nathan wouldn't. Peter would though. But who would listen to him when people are more concentrated on Nathan's campaign?"

He stood there, silent. As much as he didn't want to say it, I could see it in his eyes that he agreed with me.

Cole's hand brushed through his blond hair. "Look, if you're not busy tonight, maybe we can hang out for a bit? Like we used to six months ago."

"Sure. I could use a break."

"Great, I'll call you tonight. See ya later."

"See ya."

As usual I walked home from school. It really wasn't that far. It only took a few blocks and taxi, if possible, to get there. Once I finally arrived, I threw my backpack to a nearby couch, flipped the TV on, and sat down to relax myself. The news was on. Oh joy (note the sarcasm). Oh well, it seemed kind of interesting at the time. A suicide bombing in Israel and a train wreckage in Odessa, Texas. _Is there ever anything good to report these days?_ Everything that seemed to come out of people's mouths was bad news. My phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket. I checked the caller ID.

Nathan. Speak of the devil.

"Hey Nate."

"I told you not to call me that," he responded to me sourly.

"And do I listen?"

"No, you don't."

"That was a rhetorical question with a little bit of sarcasm mixed into it," I cornered him. "Keep up with program, Nate."

"Danielle, will you please stop your foolishness and listen to me."

"Fine…you've got five minutes."

"Mom's in jail so in case if you're wondering where she was there she is."

My eyes widened in shock. "Whoa, she's in jail? What'd she do? Rob some poor old man?"

"God, please no. She shoplifted a pair of socks."

"Socks? Really? That woman _really_ needs something to do around this place."

"Why don't you two do some shopping or something?"

"Are you really asking that Nate?"

Nathan gave a heavy sigh. "Alright, now I know you're being sarcastic. You're her daughter, Danielle."

"Foster daughter, Nathan. Just like I'm your foster sister."

"That still shouldn't make a difference."

"No, it shouldn't…but in this case it does. Every time I try talking to her it's like talking to a wall."

"I'll try talking to her for you. Listen, I gotta go. In the meantime, try to stay out of trouble."

"As if that's an option," I replied, although he had already hung up.

As you've seen for yourself, I don't exactly have the greatest relationship with my family. I wasn't lying to Cole when I said that my family ignored me. I knew for myself that the only reason Nathan took the time to call me was because of his stupid campaign. That man would do anything to keep his clean record in the media. As for Angela, she seemed to barely know that I existed. Sure she took care of me as did for her sons, but she usually kept communication up to a minimum. How social services allowed this family to adopt me, I don't know. That's why I was slightly devastated when Peter moved out the mansion. He was the only one that actually treated me as if I was his actual sister. I continued to watch the news, slowly drifting off into a deep sleep.

"Danni…Danni, c'mon it's time to wake-up."

"Mm," I moaned back to the voice.

I soon felt a pair of hands shaking my body. "C'mon Danni, wake up or else I'll have to pour a bucket of water on you."

My eyes fluttered open, but not because of the threat. It was because of the owner of the voice itself.

I smiled to him. "Peter, what are you doing here?"

"What? I can't come to see my little sister without an invitation?" he teased.

"No…you have to make a reservation."

Peter gave a small chuckle. "Being the only child in this house still hasn't changed you. So how have you been?"

"School's boring (as usual), Nathan's head has miraculously grown bigger than the earth itself because of his campaign, and I'm completely dying without you in this house. You could say I'm doing okay."

"C'mon, it's not that bad. You have two more years until you're eighteen and you can do what you want from there."

"One and a half actually," I corrected him.

He playfully rolled his eyes. "I'm not even going to ask."

"So what about you? How are things for you?"

"I don't exactly know. I've been having these weird dreams lately about—never mind it's crazy."

"C'mon Pete, tell me. I promise I won't laugh."

"I'm not worried about people laughing at me, but it's still crazy."

"I promise to put away all of my biases if you tell me," I said to him.

"Okay…lately I've been having dreams of me…flying—through the city I mean. I can't tell if it's just a dream or vision or something. But I keep seeing Nathan in it too…and sometimes he's flying."

I sat there silently, not sure of what to say next. "You had me until you mentioned Nathan."

Peter collapsed onto the couch next to me. "See, I knew you would think I was crazy too."

"I don't think you're crazy," I immediately defended. "Maybe you're just stressed out with Nathan's campaign."

"Maybe…but what if it's not that? What if I can actually fly?"

"Then maybe you are crazy, but don't let this dream convince you that you are."

"I'm not. It's just that…things have been crazy this past six months and I just feel like this is right."

"Not that I'm going to judge you, Peter, but just don't let this dream get to your head okay?"

"I'll try," he suddenly sat up, "wait, I just remembered something."

"What is it?" I asked him eagerly.

"You were in it too—the dream."

"What? What would _I_ be doing in your dream?"

"I'm not sure, but I saw you jump really high and fly for a few short seconds."

Now I knew he was going completely insane. Not once in my life have I ever jumped higher than two feet and have tried to not land on my feet. Before I had the chance to tell him how completely ridiculous the idea was, the doorbell rang.

I smiled guiltily at him. "That must be Cole. I told him he could come over to hang out. You're welcome to stay if you like."

"No thanks, I gotta go home anyway. I'll try to call you soon as I can."

"OK, I guess I'll see you when I see you." I pulled him in for a short hug before walking with him to the front door.

Cole continued to knock at the door as I made my way.

"You have an annoying boyfriend," Peter commented.

I hit him the shoulder. "He's not my boyfriend. _Somos amigos._"

"Whatever you say."

Peter opened the door, smirking at Cole. "She's all yours."

Once Peter left, Cole gave me a questioning look.

"He still thinks we're dating," was I said in response.

"I see," he nodded his head, understandably. "How long has he been at it?"

"Ever since we started hanging out which is about four years."

Cole let himself in through the open doorway. "Haven't you been telling him?"

"Yes, in both English and Spanish, but none have seemed to work."

"Oh well, that's a battle we can live to fight another day for. Anyway I brought us sunglasses for the eclipse today."

"That's today?"

"Yup, it won't get dark here like it will on the other side of the world so we'll have to wear the sun glasses to see it."

If it hadn't been for Cole's reminder, I would've missed it all together. You could say that junior year in high school is pretty stressful. Even though I wasn't stressed at all about homecoming, I was still stressed about my grades. Grades this year were the most important since colleges looked at those more than the other years of high school. That and Nathan's campaign have made my life complete chaos.

"So where are we going to see the eclipse?" I asked him.

"We can stay here or go to the park nearby."

"We can see it on my roof."

"How are we going to get on your roof?"

"We jump."

He gave me a doubtful look. "Seriously, how are going to get up there if there is no special staircase to take us up there?"

"We'll just climb from my window."

"Now that sounds more like a logical answer."

"C'mon let's go now."

I quickly led him up the spiral staircase and into my room. I usually wasn't conscious about boys entering my room when it was a mess, but it was just Cole. I had known the guy since I first came here to New York four years ago for crying out loud! Trust me; Peter was not the first to comment on our "friendship". Many others have said we are more than friends, but clearly both of us are against their opinions.

Once the window was completely open, my feet stepped onto the window seal.

I looked over at Cole. "Give me boost, will you Cole?"

"Sure."

I had my body completely outside of my room at this point. One step back to result into my first and last free-fall. Cole's arms soon wrapped around my legs, pushing my body up higher enough to able to see the top of the roof top. My hands could now get a hold of the top of the roof.

"Okay you can let me go now," I said to him.

"I don't know…are you sure you can swing up there?"

"Positive."

"If you say so," I felt his arms release my dangling legs.

Using all of my strength, I was able to swing my legs to the top of the roof. _That was easier than I thought. _

"Alright, Cole, let's get you up here!"

"How exactly is that going to happen?"

Oh, I ever so enjoyed proving that doubtful voice wrong. I looked down to that perking blond head of his.

I held my arms out to him. "Hang on and I'll pull you up."

I couldn't tell if he thought I was being sarcastic or if I was serious, but either way his eyes were wide open. "Since when can you easily carry people?"

"Never; that's why you're gonna use your feet to help you climb up."

"Gotcha."

Our hands grasped each other's arms firmly as I used all of my strength to pull Cole up. It was quite difficult actually. Even though Cole used his strength as well, it was still the heavy-lifting job. My muscles finally relieved themselves when Cole's feet managed to make it to the roof.

After a few deep breaths he spoke again. "Next time we're going to the park."

"But where's the fun in that?" I remarked at him.

What could I say? I couldn't resist.

Sitting up, Cole took a look at his watch. "We have five more minutes until the eclipse in action."

"How come you're so set on seeing this eclipse? I mean you don't see people at school freaking out about it."

"As you should know by now, I'm not exactly like the other kids at school."

I coughed. "Yeah, drama-geek."

"Hey, don't diss the theater, dancing-girl."

"I wasn't aiming that towards the theater, but go ahead."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not interested in what other people think. It's what I think that matters."

"I get that…I guess."

"Don't you want to be different?"

"I'm not aiming to be different…I'm aiming to survive."

Before Cole could respond to my statement, a beeping noise came from his watch.

"It's time," he said handing me a pair of sunglasses from his jacket pocket.

I slid the sunglasses over my eyes as Cole did and looked up at the sky. Nevertheless to say, I was completely amazed. I had only seen an eclipse in a textbook for science in sixth grade and that was the closest I had ever gotten to it. But now as I looked up at the sky I admired the artwork being made in the sky. The dark moon glided perfectly over the bright burning sun. A creeping chill came over me. I didn't know why, but I had this feeling like something was coming. I didn't know what it was though. Feeling that it was nothing I threw the idea away. I wasn't going to chase intuition like Peter was.

Hours seemed to have gone by when the sun and the moon finally separated. My time in salvation was gone.

"Wow…that was…"

"Amazing?" Cole finished for me.

"Yeah, it was beautiful," I nodded.

"Sure was."

I then heard a car door slam.

My eyes widened in recognition. "Oh shoot!"

I got to my feet heading towards the edge of the roof.

"What's wrong?" Cole asked.

"Angela's here!"

Just like that, Cole got to his feet as well. A little something I forgot to mention: I'm not supposed to be on the roof. I know that seems like an obvious rule, but to me the roof was a place for me to get away from the problems I had. Unfortunately the Petrelli family didn't take that too lightly. Nathan had pulled me down once himself when I was only thirteen.

Cole and I looked over the edge. An idea suddenly popped into mind.

"Let's hang over the edge and swing inside the window."

"Seriously. You need to warn me whether you're being realistic or sarcastic."

"I was serious. Besides it shouldn't be as hard as getting up."

"I'll take your word for it," he took one step back, "Ladies first."

Oh how I hated it when the rule was used against women. I went ahead regardless. I went down to my knees and slowly wobbled backwards towards the edge. With my grasp on the roof, I began to let my legs dangle off of the edge. _So far so good, _I chanted to myself. Unfortunately I spoke too soon. My fingers lost their grasp on the tiles of the roof and slipped. My body began to fall freely to the ground. I let out a small scream before an angel came and saved me from my death.

Cole grabbed a hold of my arms. "Hang on," he struggled to say.

I grabbed onto his arms. "I'm trying."

My worst fear came to life. With his lack of strength my weight had pulled him down as well. Maybe I should have listened to Nathan when he pulled me down from the roof that one day. The wind whipped around us as gravity took us to our rightful place: the ground. I never even thought to let go of Cole. He seemed to have the same thought. Our hands wrapped tightly around each other's arms as if it would do anything to save us. It seemed as though hours had passed until we finally stopped. Wait, stopped? Why not crashed to the ground? I expected bone breaking and blackouts, but never an abrupt stop. Realizing I had my eyes closed the whole time, I opened them. My eyes widened at the sight.

Cole and I still had our arms locked with each other but with one huge difference…we were hovering only two feet above the ground. Before Cole could get more than a two second glance at the sight we landed to the ground with a _thump!_ We only stared at each other with awed expressions.

Cole's words barely came out as a whisper. "Did you…?"

"I…"

There were no words to describe this so I kept my mouth shut.

"What are you two doing out here?" an all too familiar voice came.

I looked up at Angela Petrelli with an unsure glance. How would I answer the old woman? "We fell down from the roof and survived it without getting a scratch on us. What else does it look like?" was what I would say to be sarcastic, but there was no way of throwing any sarcastic comments now.

"We were looking at the eclipse from here, Mrs. Petrelli," Cole answered for me.

"I heard that was happening today. I'm pretty sure it was eventful."

"Sure was," I muttered.

"Well, I better attend to some business then."

Silence was left behind as Angela walked into the Petrelli Mansion. I didn't know what to say and Cole did either so as you can guess it was pretty quiet.

"So do you want to work on that history report now?" I finally said.

I couldn't stand it to be quiet between us.

He looked at me incredulously. "Did you not see what happened?"

"I did, but I'd rather forget it."

"Well I can't forget it. Something stopped us from hitting the ground tragically and I want to find out what."

I groaned. "You really need to lay off the comic books."

"Hey! 9th Wonders is beast okay. We've already settled this a very long time ago," he argued.

"The author is a heroin addict!"

"That does not affect the writing obviously. Now as for the events before I really think we should look into it."

"No," I got to my feet, "If it's not you, it's Peter. We are not going to look into it because it eventually leads to an ugly truth that I don't want to see."

"Well unlike you I actually want to know the truth and not be trapped in a perfect façade."

He had crossed the line. I only turned away and headed back into the house.

"Danni, wait!" Cole called after me. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that!"

I continued to walk until Cole came up in front of me, holding both of my shoulders.

"Look. I didn't mean that—it's just that…you need to…"

"Need to what, Cole?" I shouted furiously at him. "Grow up? I've already done that thank you very much!"

"No, you need to get in touch with reality."

"Me? Get in touch with reality? You the one suggesting to use a comic book to figure out what happened for God's sake!"

"At least it was something to figure out what happened. I'm not gonna lie around and pretend that it was just a coincidence that we came out of that fall without a scratch."

"Guess what, Cole. Reality is accepting the way things work in this world. I've already done that…and I had to learn that on my own. Do you think that I _enjoy_ being here? I wanna be out of here as soon as I can. But I have to wait two years until I can move out. That's the truth that I have accepted since I was twelve years old…since my mom died."

The memory of my mother brought tears to my eyes. Cole pulled me into a hug, cradling me in his arms.

"I'm sorry if I made you bring that up," he whispered. "I'll never mention it again if it really bothers you that much, but can I ask why?"

"I don't know. I just have a plan set up in my mind and I don't want anything interfering with it. You understand, right?"

"I respect your decisions if that's what you mean."

"That's all I ask."

We pulled away from our hug.

"So, how about that history assignment?" I rubbed my eyes of the dried tears that rested on my cheeks.

He gave a weak smile. "Sure, I'll help you on that."

As much as I tried to ignore it, the event that happened the day before couldn't climb out of my head. It even haunted my dreams. Needless to say, I was scared. If anyone found out what happened, Cole and I would wind up in some mental facility for sure. My goal for today was to find some way to forget what happened. There was no way I was telling anyone of my experience. I wasn't going to make the same mistake as Peter did. Most likely half of the people he told of his dream thought he was developing some mental disease.

But today I was going start off fresh. No eclipses, no flying, and certainly no jumping off of buildings. So that's what I did. I carried on my usual morning routine: get up, get ready, get dressed, and eat breakfast. After I had finished eating breakfast, I headed for the door to carry on to my daily walk to school.

Unfortunately right when I opened the door, I saw an undesirable face.

Nathan grinned at me. "Good morning, Danielle."

I gave him the same cheap grin as he did to me. "Good morning, Senator Smiles-A-Lot."

"Are you ready to go?"

"If you mean ready to walk to school on my own, then yes. Would you move out of the door way, please?"

"I was actually going to offer you a ride to school."

"Ha-ha, very funny. Look Nate, I really need to go to school. So could you please step aside?"

"Fine. Since you want to play games, I'll be straightforward with you. I need to have a private chat with you and I'd figured since we both had places to go this morning that I could offer you a ride."

"Now that sounds like the Nathan I know," I said. "Fine, I'll go with you since I have nothing else to do."

"Thank-you."

I followed Nathan to the cab parked to the side of the curb. A cab, really? I could've walked like I usually did. I slid in after him as told the cab driver where to go.

He spoke again as soon as we were on the road. "I know we haven't spoken much since you became a part of this family…"

_You just noticed that? Wow, talk about clueless._

"…but I need a favor to ask from you. I've been looking through the polls and I've noticed a difference in them every time you walk onto the scene."

I mindlessly looked at my nails. "If you want me out of the media's eyes then you can just tell me. No need to worry about my feelings."

"No actually, it's quite the contrary. You bring on some kind of energy to the camera."

"Are you sure you're not talking about your sons?"

"I'm not talking about that energy. I'm talking about bringing in some kind of energy to young voters."

"I'm sixteen."

"I mean the ones who recently registered to vote. The voters like to see a fresh face and you can bring that."

"So basically, you want to use me to get a few points higher up in the polls?"

Nathan nodded. "Think of it as helping a family member out."

"I'm not even blood related to you."

"That shouldn't make a difference—and that's another reason why the voters seem to like you. You're one of the few foster children who got adopted."

"Well I feel special," I grumbled.

"Just think about it."

His phone suddenly began to ring. _Must be another one of his agents._

"Nathan Petrelli," he answered. "Peter...What the hell are you rambling about? —All right—fine, I'll go with this for a little while as long as you have something logical to say…Yeah, she's here with me, but she has to get to school. Fine, I'll write her a note then. See ya, Pete."

"What was that about?" I questioned him.

"Peter wants to show us something. Hopefully it's not as foolish as the dream he told me about."

I held my tongue to the back of my mouth. Nathan seemed quiet annoyed at the moment and I didn't want to anger him anymore with the news of Peter sharing his dream with me as well. Nathan gave the cab driver new directions and remained quiet for the rest of drive. What did Peter so desperately want to show us?

We soon arrived at an abandoned alleyway where we exited the cab. I looked around for Peter, but he was nowhere to be found. Nathan seemed to get back on his phone to fix that problem.

"All right, we're here," he said. "Now what do you want?"

_Crash!_ I jumped at the sound. I looked down to find Peter's cell phone shattered to the ground. The logical answer for me was to look up to the source.

A figure spoke from on top of the roof. "I've been up here all night! Thinking about this! Thinking about my destiny!"

I gasped when I realized that it was Peter on the roof. "Peter, what the heck are you doing up there?"

"What'cha doing, Pete?" Nathan asked with a hint of nervousness.

"It's my turn to be somebody now, Nathan!" was Peter's only response.

The dream had really gotten to him. Now here I was hoping he wasn't going to do something stupid.

Nathan shouted back at him. "C'mon, Peter quit screwing around!"

The command didn't seem to cross him. Peter stood up there for a few moments before deciding on any action. The action he decided unfortunately contemplated mine. From the distance I saw his foot step off of the edge of the roof and just like that gravity overtook him.

"PETER!" I screamed.

I dropped my messenger bag along with my books in shock.

I turned to Nathan. "C'mon don't just stand there do…something."

Nathan was gone. My heart began to pound when I looked up again. Nathan flew up to Peter! Flew up as in physically flying up to him with no wings provided! I was still awestruck by the sight. Nathan caught Peter which ended up having them swirl in the sky. I didn't care how Peter was saved—as long as he didn't die. Unluckily my relief would soon leave me. Peter slipped from Nathan's grasp and continued to fall.

I couldn't let Peter fall—I couldn't let him die! As if it would do anything to make a difference, I jumped in the direction he was falling. It turned out I was closer to him than I thought. I caught him within seconds of the jump. I held him in my arms.

"Danni, how are you doing that?" he demanded.

"What are you talking about? I just saved you from hitting your head!"

"No…we're still up in the sky."

I dared to look down. He was right. We were floating, but how was that possible? All I did was jump and…now this.

I gasped. "Oh my—"

I felt gravity's force all over me again. Now I was in Peter's place, falling to my death. Again. _So much for a normal day._

Peter wrapped his arms around me. "Hold on, Danni. I'm gonna try to get us out of here."

Before I was able to answer, my head hit something hard and everything went black.

_And this is exactly where my story begins._

* * *

><p>And I'm back! I hope this first chapter wasn't too rough. This is my first Heroes fanfic that I've been planning for a year and a half now and also the first story in general that I've written in first person. This will follow the show's timeline, but in DANNI'S POV so I'm not just repeating the script throughout. Follow me on twitter if you want any updates on the for reading!<p>

~Emyrox567


	2. Denial

Discovery

Did you ever get that feeling where you felt like you know somebody, yet you can't put a finger on it? Well, that's my situation…except it has something to do with the situation I was just in. I couldn't explain it. It was like being in the dream world, but I had all of my five senses. It felt so real, yet it couldn't have been. Surreal, that was the word to describe what had happened. As I opened my eyes, I took in the reality around me.

I was lying in hospital bed much to my surprise. I thought was in the taxi with Nathan. Shouldn't I have been? Wasn't I supposed to be in school? How did I end up here in the first place? I lifted my head to get a better look, but stopped when a strike of pain went through my head.

"Whoa, slow down there."

My eyes looked up to see Nathan giving me a serious look. _Great, here I am on my death bed and the last person I want to see is here. _

"Where am I?" Wow that was a stupid question.

"You're at the hospital."

For some strange reason it was difficult to talk with the pain in my head, but I managed. "Why?"

"Don't you remember? Peter jumped off the building and you climbed up the fire escape to catch him, but you ended up falling and hitting your head."

"I don't remember that."

"You probably don't remember a lot. You had a concussion."

_That explains the headaches._ "But why did Peter try to jump?"

Nathan paused before continuing. "He tried to commit suicide."

I may have had some memory loss, but that didn't sound right. Peter committing suicide? When did that ever happen? I knew Peter could feel lousy sometimes, but I never knew he would come to that conclusion.

"What was the last thing you remember?" he asked me.

"I was in the taxi with you and we were talking. Then you get a call from Peter…"

I tried to remember anything past that, but it all turned out to be black. I must've really hit my head hard.

"How long have I been out?"

"Almost the whole day. That must've been some concussion."

I clenched my forehead. "Ah! My head hurts!"

"The doctors said that you'll have migraines for about a few weeks or so. It was a miracle you survived. I thought you were a goner there for a second."

Why did he sound so sympathetic? Last I checked he could care less about me.

"What about Peter?" I asked.

"He's fine. He woke up a few hours ago."

"Is he still here?"

"Yeah, he'll be here for the whole day. You on the other hand have to stay here for about a few days or until the doctors think that you can handle the migraines on your own."

"Story of my life," I muttered to myself, but I was pretty sure Nathan heard me too.

"Oh, I see you're finally awake."

My eyes moved to the doorway to find Angela staring down at me. I didn't know whether or not it was concern though. If you've lived with the woman long enough, you'll realize that you can never read her face.

"I thought you weren't going to wake up until tomorrow."

See, there I couldn't even tell what she meant by the tone in her voice. So it was still a mystery whether she was concerned for my wellbeing or not.

"Is that supposed to be a good thing?" I grumbled.

"Well, yes. From what Nathan told me you hit your head pretty hard falling down that fire escape."

"I-I still don't remember climbing up anything."

Angela came up to me. "Don't worry. It's normal to have a concussion and memory loss at the same time."

"You said I fell down a fire escape, but were there any other injuries besides the concussion?"

"A few bruises here and there, but everything else is fine," Nathan answered.

"You should get some rest," said Angela. "All this talking is making your head even worse."

"But I feel okay," I mumbled.

"Rest will make you feel even better. Now c'mon Nathan, we need to get home if you want to make on time for dinner."

Angela exited out of the room before Nathan did.

"Goodnight, Danni," was the last thing he said to me before he left.

Despite the time, I couldn't find myself to go back to sleep again. For the most part it was because of the headaches, but for the second part it was mostly because I was trying to remember what had happened before I hit my head. I didn't know why, but Nathan's explanation didn't seem to satisfy me. It seemed as if he was trying to cover something more than explaining to me what had happened. Before I even knew it, I fell right to sleep.

Once again, I was awakened by the blinding light that came into my room. I looked around the room realizing that I was to be there for the next few days. Welcome boredom.

"Miss Petrelli," a nurse came in through the door carrying in my breakfast. "Some one's here to see you. He said his name was Cole Bowman. Do you know him?"

My eyes brightened at the mention of his name. "Oh yeah, send him in."

The nurse put my breakfast on the tray she folded out in front of me and left the room. It wasn't a moment after she left that Cole came rushing in.

"Oh good, you're still alive," he gave a relieved sigh.

"What? You thought I was the one who committed suicide?"

"No, but I had feeling since you made that comment about dying and people not noticing until weeks later and yeah."

"I wasn't being serious. I was being hypothetical."

"So, how are feeling now?"

"The headaches hurt like a bitch, but other than that I'm alright."

"That's good."

I took my first bite into the bagel that sat on my plate. "You know you can sit down if you want to."

"No, it's alright. I need get to school soon. Anyway, I came here to give you your school work that you missed yesterday."

Cole quickly searched his backpack and took out a short pile of papers.

"Oh and Mr. Jenkins said he'd extend the due date for that history paper for you until you returned to school."

I placed the papers he handed to me on my lap. "Thanks Cole, you're a lifesaver."

"No problem, but how did you get your concussion in the first place?"

"I don't remember, but Nathan told me that Peter jumped off a building, I went up to catch him, but I fell down in the process."

"What was Peter doing on a building?"

"He tried to commit suicide," the words poisoned my tongue as I said them.

"I'm sorry. Is he okay now?"

"Yeah, he should be home by now."

"So how long are in this place?"

"For few days or until the doctors think that I can handle the headaches."

"I see. Look, I hate to barge out like this, but I gotta get back to school. Plus my mom's waiting out in the car."

"You have your license, but you're still driving around with your mom?"

"I'm working on getting a car, relax," he stuttered.

I laughed. "I'm just kidding. I don't have a car yet, either."

"You really need to work on whether or not you're being sarcastic. I've hung out with you for years and I still haven't figured it out."

"But that's the funniest part."

"Before we get into another conversation, I need to go. I'll come after school to help you with your homework, if you like."

"I would actually. Thanks," I smiled.

He smiled brightly at me. "Great. I'll see you at three then."

I looked back at the clock. Six thirty. _I'm gonna be here for a while._

For most of the day, I actually did my homework. I know shocker. Well, since you don't know me that well yet, it doesn't come as bit of a shock as it would to someone like Cole. Usually, I procrastinate until the last minute about homework and such. But if I was in a special case like this, I would get it done right away in fear of work piling up more than it usually did. The other reason I was busy at work was because of the lack of visitors that I expected to receive. As much as the Petrellis "cared" for me, they had better things to do than check on me. I'll bet that the only reason Angela came to visit me was because Peter begged her to check up on me. He was always her favorite. If there was one thing you needed to know about the Petrellis' parenting style, it was that they always picked favorites. As I mentioned before Peter was Angela's favorite and Nathan was my foster father, Arthur's favorite. Where exactly does that leave me? Well right to a land called, Nonexistentville. It puzzles me to this day on how social services put me in the hands of people who already thought that they had enough children.

A knock came from the door. _Funny, I thought the door was open._

I looked over to find Peter standing in the doorway. "Hey, Danni. Can I come in?"

"Sure, I can spare a few minutes from Algebra."

Peter grabbed a chair and brought it next to my bed before sitting down.

"So how's the concussion?" he asked.

"Okay, but the headaches really aren't making it easier for me to do my homework."

"I can imagine."

That's what I couldn't understand. Why would Peter try to commit suicide? He seemed happy enough. He had a good job, a place to live and a family that clearly loves him. What would drive him to that conclusion?

I smiled weakly at him. "So how are you?"

"I'm all right, but I've been worried about you."

"I just got a concussion from being clumsy."

He looked at me as if I were crazy. "What are you talking about?"

"I climbed up the fire escape to save you, but I fell."

"You didn't climb up anything. Do you even remember what happened?"

"Not really. Nathan told what happened. Peter, why would you even try to take yourself away from this world?"

"Nathan told you that story, didn't he?" his lips tightened. "Do you remember anything at all from the incident?"

"Not past from being in the cab with Nathan. Why? Is there something wrong?"

"Yes. Nathan lied to you. That's not what happened."

I expected as much from Nathan. "Then what really happened?"

"When I jumped from the roof, I was trying to fly like I did in my dream. I didn't, but Nathan flew up to catch me. Unfortunately I was too heavy and he ended up dropping me. Then you jumped up and caught me. You must've jumped like eighteen stories or something. But when you finally became aware of what you had done, you lost focus and ended up falling to the ground with me. Nathan came down to help, but by the time he did you hit your head against the rail of the fire escape and I was out by the time we hit the ground."

I looked at him like a madman. "I liked Nathan's story better."

I wasn't lying when I said that. It seemed more logical for me to slip and fall than to jump up eighteen stories and fall.

"I'm not making this up," Peter defended.

"Your dream did get to you. Now you're making up stories about what you really did."

"I did fly, Danni. And so did you for a few seconds."

"I can't fly. Trust me, I was in that day and age when I tried to imitate Peter Pan and I did not fly one inch off the ground."

"But you did yesterday! I can't believe you're taking Nathan's side on this."

"I'm not taking anyone's side on this, but my own. Aside from yesterday, have you even _flown_ anywhere?"

"I did. Last night. I was arguing with Nathan and I ended up flying up a few feet."

"Are you sure that wasn't in your dreams?"

"I'm positive. Look, what you did was incredible. I just wished you could've remembered it."

"What would've been the point, Peter? Say if I could fly what would I do with it? So far it's only causing me trouble."

"Once you get out of this hospital, I'm gonna prove it to you. Both you, me, and Nathan can fly."

I didn't say anything to him at that point. There was no way the conversation could continue without an opposing side showing up. I loved Peter, but I worried about the fantasy he was trying to live. I knew from experience that if you live in your fantasy long enough, the more likely chance you had of getting hurt in the end.

Peter sighed. "Before yesterday, was there anything different that happened to you? Something that you would've thought to be impossible."

I thought back to that time when I was with Cole. Something strange did happen, but I didn't feel that it was relevant to what we were talking about.

I shook my head. "No, nothing happened."

"I'll prove it to you, Dan. Once I've got the flying thing down, I'll show you and prove to you that you flew."

"Not to be rude or anything, but I have to get back to Algebra. It's a pain in the butt, but at least it's not as painful as my headaches right now."

"I'll convince the doctors to let you out by tomorrow, but until then just hang on. I'll see you soon."

"See you."

I continued with my math homework in attempt to forget the conversation that we just had. Unfortunately, I finished my homework within the ten minutes Peter had gone. I really didn't like arguing with Peter, but he needed to know the truth on what he was attempting to believe. I didn't fly. I couldn't fly. I would never fly. I'm Danielle Petrelli—not Supergirl. I needed to stay on the ground where reality was or else my life would be thrown out of balance. You see, I already had most of my life planned out. Graduate high school, go to college, get married and have kids. That's it. This fantasy of flying could ruin that cycle. I really didn't have time to go to a mental facility.

As promised, Cole came later that day to help me with the homework. It really wasn't that difficult, but I didn't want to be alone with my thoughts about my conversation with Peter.

"And we are done," Cole finally said.

"Thank God. I'm so tired at looking at words. I had to do that all day."

"You didn't take a break in between?"

"I sorta did when Peter came to visit."

His eyes lightened up. "Peter? How's he doing?"

"Okay…in a sense. He's claiming that he didn't commit suicide."

"Then what is he saying that he did?"

"He saying—and don't laugh—that he was trying to fly. And the crazier part is that he's claiming that Nathan and I flew too. I have a feeling he hit his head. What do you think?"

Cole was completely silent.

I looked at him incredulously. "You're not actually thinking about this, are you?"

"I'm just thinking about that incident that we had after the eclipse. We floated over the ground for a good few seconds."

"I thought we weren't gonna talk about that anymore."

"It looks like we have to. There is a similar tie to what's happened in the past couple days."

"There is no tie, Cole. I did not fly. Peter and Nathan didn't fly. No one flew. _¿Comprende__?__"_

"I'm about to show you something, but you need to promise me that you'll keep an open mind about it."

"I make no promises, but I'll make an attempt to."

Sighing, Cole pulled out a comic book. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I took it from him. It was another issue of 9th Wonders with a girl flying above New York City and the title, _Air Maiden_. I looked inside and saw the girl staring out into space in class, but her teacher had caught her and…wait. Haven't I seen this before? Or better yet, have I lived it?

"I'm sorry. The headaches are making it very hard to understand. What exactly are you showing me here?" I inquired from him.

"Don't you get it? The Air Maiden is you. I found it this morning when I passed a stand. She looks like you and she has the same name as you."

"That's just a coincidence, Cole."

"Really?" He took the comic book from me and pointed to a page where the girl and a blond boy were floating just two feet from the ground. "Because I'm finding that hard to believe as I am continuing to read this issue."

"Okay, so my life story is in a comic book. How does that prove Peter's theory right?"

"I don't know, but you're in this comic and it's telling you that you have powers."

"All right. Who's the author of those things again? Isaac Mendez, right? Once I get out of this hospital, I'm gonna call him and sue him."

"How? You yourself don't have enough money to even sue a cab driver."

"Oh, I'll find a way. As for you I suggest you drop this. You're gonna end up seeing a shrink if you don't keep your mouth closed."

"I won't have to. I know what happened that day and it wasn't luck."

I moaned. "Fine, if you want to see if the comic book world exists be my guest. Don't drag me into this though. My life is already complicated enough without it."

"All right, if you want to be kept in the dark about this for the rest of your life then fine. I'll drop it, but you can't ask me to forget what happened."

"I'll be able to cope with that. Thank you, again."

"Sure, whatever. I'll come over same time tomorrow to help you with homework. In the meantime," he handed me the comic book, "keep this. Comic books aren't as geeky as you think."

"No, but drama is."

"I can't argue with that, but acting is my thing. Just like dancing is for you."

"It's not just a thing. It's my life, literally."

"Again, I'll see you tomorrow. Try not to let the headaches get to you."

"I'll try. See you later."

And just like that Cole left. I really didn't understand why he and Peter were obsessed with this. They were just chasing fantasies in my opinion. I would just walk away if it was any other situation, but I loved both of them. I couldn't let them drive themselves down to rock bottom. So maybe if I never find out about what actually happened the day Peter fell off the roof, my life will be simple.


	3. Epiphany

Epiphany

I returned back home with the Petrellis a couple days later. The only reason that hospital was keeping me hostage was because they wanted to make sure I was sane enough to handle my headaches. Excuses, excuses. Yes, they hurt like crazy, but I am able to handle them very well myself, thank you! Anyway, Angela sent a driver for me and I came home safe and sound. Nothing else special happened about it. As usual, Angela wasn't home. Even if she was I'll be willing to bet that she doesn't want to see me. It's a cruel thought, I know. But it's the truth.

I crashed right onto my bed when I entered my room. Those hospital beds aren't as comfortable as they look. My eyes began to shut when Peter's voice came into my room.

"Hey, Danni," he said. "How are you?"

"My headaches are horrible, I'm exhausted and I have a paper due Monday that I see no use for. How's it going for you?"

"All right. I know we didn't get off the right foot a couple days ago, but I brought you something to make up for it."

I sat up. "I'm listening."

Peter handed me a blue book. "I thought you would find it interesting. I know you don't go for scientific theories and all of that, but I think you'll find an interest in it."

I glanced at the title and rolled my eyes. It was _Activating Evolution _by Chandra Suresh. I heard about this book from one of my friends in English once. It was complete rubbish about people being able to move things with their mind, not getting hurt from any possible injury and most of all, fly.

"Peter," I sighed. "I thought we were done with this."

"I'm not and I don't remember you saying that we were done this in our last conversation."

"Oh right, that was with Cole."

"He's seen you fly too?"

"No. Like you he is losing it trying to figure this out."

"What about you then? Please don't tell me there isn't one part of you that's itching to find out what's happening here."

"Nothing is happening here, Peter. You were just being delusional when you jumped off that roof top."

"I wasn't being delusional," he nearly shouted. "I know what I did and I know what I saw. Nathan is feeding you lies and you are eating right off the palm of his hand."

"Maybe because he's being more reasonable about this. Ever think about that, Pete?"

"I promised you that I would prove all of this existed and I'm going to stay true to that promise."

"Stay true to it all you want. You can't force me to believe things that…I don't want to believe in."

"So you think that it really happened then?"

"I didn't say that," I snapped.

"But you didn't say that it doesn't exist."

"Look, my headaches are acting up again, so could you please let me be alone for a few hours."

"Fine, but call me when you get it together."

"Right back at you."

Peter left without another word, again. I really hoped he would get over this nonsense. We hardly ever fought and so far this one is the biggest. He can't seem to let go of this even if his life depended on it. The book that Peter gave me still stared at me as if it was calling me. I threw the book to my hamper where my dirty clothes lied. I couldn't stand the sight of it anymore. Lying back down, I closed my eyes in hope that I would be able to wake up from this horrible nightmare later.

It was two O'clock in the afternoon when I woke up from my cat nap. It made some of the pain go away from the headaches, but they still hurt like crazy. And the doctor said that I would still have headaches for the rest of the month. Just my luck. Following the demands of my dry throat, I made my way downstairs to the kitchen. I stopped midway through the stairs when I saw Cole at the front door with Angela.

"I just want to talk to her for a few minutes, Mrs. Petrelli," Cole begged.

"I'm sorry. She just returned from the hospital and when I last checked on her, she was fast asleep. I'll tell Danielle to call you when she's ready."

I continued to walk down the stairs as my voice echoed, "Well I'm ready. Can I please talk to him for a couple minutes?"

"You need your rest, Danielle," said Angela. "Your concussion isn't going to get any better if you're up and about."

"It's just a couple minutes. How much can that hurt?"

"Very well then," Angela smiled. "I'll allow two minutes and that's it."

Angela walked into the other room wordlessly as I made my way to the door.

"Hey Cole, what's up?" I said.

"Not much," he shrugged. "I just wanted to check up on you. Are the headaches any better?"

"I wish, but no. Plus the headaches aren't the only thing that's bothering me. Peter tried to convince me again…about the whole flying thing."

"You still don't believe it happened."

"And you do? Geez, if it's not Peter, it's you. You know you two should just get together and discuss this insanity."

"You're being stubborn, Danni," he said simply. "You're not listening to reason."

"I am listening to reason. The things you're talking about aren't reason. It's crazy talk. If you keep this up, I don't know where you're gonna end up."

"I could care less where I end up. I know what happened. I can tell the difference if I'm hallucinating or if something is actually happening."

"You don't know how close I am to calling a doctor. This is the last time I'm gonna ask you…please drop it."

"I will when you say that this doesn't exist."

"None of this exists. Now drop it."

Cole only nodded as he turned his back to me. I closed the door and groaned. Why were Peter and Cole so caught up in this fantasy? Flying only existed for bugs and birds, not people. That was the fact in life in that I and everyone else had come to accept. The worst part of this was that the people I cared for the most were choosing to believe something that didn't exist and I was pushing them away. A knock came from the door.

I swung the door open. "Cole, I…"

Unfortunately, it wasn't Cole. I probably wouldn't expect him to come around here for a while, but I can still hope.

"Oh, it's you," I said to Nathan.

"Were you expecting someone?"

"No…he won't be back here for a while. Why did you knock? You know you can just come in, right?"

Nathan allowed himself in. "Yes, but I forgot my key."

"So, what are you doing here?"

"I came here to see how you were doing. From what Peter tells me, you're still suffering from the concussion."

"I sure am and on top of that I have to deal with other things, so I'm not doing so hot."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I wish there was something I could do to help."

Since when? Ever since I've lived here, Nathan had always been the one that ignored me and put his full attention on his career and his family. Why was he being so generous all of the sudden?

"Peter came over today before you did," I said to him, "and he came a couple days ago too. He said that there was a different story to his suicide attempt than what you were telling me. Is that true?"

"What exactly did he say?"

"He said that he was trying to fly and that you and I flew up to save him. Peter's been trying to convince me that it's true, but I can't bring myself to believe him."

"Don't," Nathan said almost immediately. "It's a part of the depression. He thinks that's he's invincible and that we should go down to his level as well."

"But Cole has been saying the same thing too and as far as I know, he's not suffering from depression."

"Was he there with us when Peter…"

"No. It was another time. I've been trying to tell him otherwise, but like Peter, he's stubborn."

"It's probably just one of those fads that Cole occasionally has. It'll pass. Right now, I want you to return to the way things were before. A reporter has been snooping information on us and if they hear of Peter's suicide attempt this could put a toll on the campaign."

My lips tightened. "Really, Nate? Is that all you can think about? Your stupid campaign?"

"It wouldn't be so stupid if you were running for congress as well."

"Well I'm not, so it's stupid." I caught his offended expression. "Oh, don't look at me like that. You know I don't spare people's feelings when I talk to them. I even yelled at Peter today, so do not get me started on you."

Nathan sighed. "I'm not asking you to spare people's feelings. I'm simply requesting that you put Peter's suicide attempt behind you and forget anything he may have told you."

"Already done. Anything else, Nate?"

"Don't call me that tonight in front of the cameras."

"What's happening tonight?"

"My campaign dinner which you think is stupid. Don't you remember? I asked you to be a part of my campaign and you said yes."

"When did I say that?" I inquired.

"When we were in that cab the morning that Peter jumped off the building. I asked you to be more involved with the media and you said yes."

"I remember something about a campaign thing, but don't remember answering."

"Well either way, your name is on the list and so is Cole's in case you want to invite him."

"That just proves how much you don't know me."

"Excuse me?"

"Never mind. I'm going for a walk." I pushed past Nathan. "And don't worry. I'll be home in time to get ready for that dinner."

Nathan's voice shouted behind me, "Danni, you're not well. You need to get back inside and rest."

I didn't spare a look at him as I walked down the steps of the porch. "Yeah, yeah. The thing I need right now is time to think."

I ignored every other word that Nathan said as I kept walking down the street. I wasn't running away, if that's what you think. I true to my word when I said I needed time to think. Plus I wasn't just going anywhere. I was going to the one place where I could think: the dance studio three blocks down. I know it sounds stupid, but it's true. I've done a lot of thinking through just dancing my heart out. As I told Cole, dancing was my life. Right when I learned to walk, I picked up how to dance by my mom taking me to dance classes. But the time came when we moved around too constantly for me to even attend dance class once a week, so I taught myself mostly through music videos and eventually I began creating my own routines.

The dance studio was vacant as it usually was on the weekends when I came in. Luckily I had the key on hand to the studio since my dance team rehearsed either here or in the school's theater. Once I had unlocked the door, I turned on the lights, turned on the stereo to whatever song that was on and began to dance.

I thought about what Peter and Cole had said and compared it to Nathan's assumptions about the situation. It was confusing. The people I trusted the most didn't make sense and the person I almost completely loathed had logic in this situation. I couldn't fly. I knew that for a fact. If only I remembered what happened! Then maybe I could be more confident in my answers.

I closed my eyes, bringing myself back to that day. Nathan and I were in the cab…he was telling me something about his campaign and he gets a call from Peter telling us to meet him in some alley. When we arrived there, Peter was on top of the building…and he fell…and…and…I pushed my brain harder to remember what had happened next. Every time did though, my headaches became more intense and I kept hitting a dark wall. I wanted to remember. Only I can determine what the lies and truths are in my life.

I collapsed to the ground, trying to overcome the dark wall in my head. There was still nothing. Realizing that this quest was only giving me headaches, I decided to leave and go back to the Petrelli Mansion.

After I made sure everything was locked and turned off at the dance studio, I began to walk back home. It still frustrated me that I couldn't remember that one simple event. I guess that's what you get when you get a concussion. If only I could trade one of my memories for the one that I was so desperately trying to find, my life would be so much simpler. The one where I tripped a puddle of mud that one summer in front of everybody would've done just fine to trade off.

A girl from around the corner came up to me. "Hey, Danni. How are you doing?"

I immediately recognized her as a friend from the dance team. "Hey, Natalie. I'm doing okay…I guess. How about you?"

"Same here. Cole told me you got a concussion a couple days ago. I hope you're doing all right."

"Don't worry, I am. I just gotta get through the headaches for the next month or so."

"Harsh. Well, I gotta go. I'll see you at school on Monday."

"See you, Nat."

I turned to wave at her as she past me and caught the gaze coming at me from a bald dark skinned man. He looked away as soon as he saw me, but I still got the creeps. Waving it off, I continued my path. But as much as I tried to forget the man something in my gut was telling me that something was wrong. Shivers were coming up my spine as I thought more and more of the man. When arrived at the light to wait for the crosswalk, I took one glance behind me and snapped my head back to the road ahead of me. He was right behind me!

I tried to stay calm about the situation and stay where I was. Besides he could've been going the same way I was. It was New York. To avoid eye contact with him, I watched as the cars passed by. Across from the intersection I saw man with horn rimmed glasses staring right at me. It wasn't one of those "stare into space" stares. It was more of stare that he had a goal and he was going to go to great lengths to accomplish it. I decided to give up playing it cool and walked down the sidewalk.

Like when prey is being hunted, my senses were heightened. My eyes took in the surroundings around me. There was nobody here which I found weird because it was a Saturday in Manhattan. I usually had to fight my way through the crowd, but this certain street was empty. Whoever these men were, they chose a good spot to stalk me. My ears began to hear the footsteps behind me quicken. As a rabbit would do when faced with a fox, I sprinted towards the next crosswalk.

And like the smartest person in the world, I forgot my cell phone. I had left it in my room when I went downstairs to get something to drink. I feel so clueless right now. There was nothing that stopped me from running as fast as I did. When I started running, so did the man behind me. There wasn't much coming through my mind when I ran onto the crosswalk. I just thought about getting away and the horrible possibilities that would happen if they got me. I didn't realize that the sign for me to walk was still red until I was in the middle in the road.

The only thing that stopped me was the sound of a loud car engine coming towards me. I looked up to find a red sports car speeding towards me. Like an idiot, I just stared at it. I was pretty shook up with the men stalking me and everything else that I forgot how to move my legs for those short two seconds. Realizing that the car wouldn't stop for me, I began to think of a quick plan to survive the impact. I remembered watching _The Next Karate Kid _with Hilary Swank in it the week before. There was this one scene where she jumped on the car heading towards her as this car was doing to me now. So that was my plan: jump on the hood of the car and pray that he stops.

Time seemed to come slow when the car was in front of me. Without giving it another thought, I jumped up in the air. I expected to land on the hood, but I went right past it…Not only that, but I was going higher than intended. The car sped past me within an instant with me still in the sky. Was I truly flying? No. I was slowly lowering to the ground with hardly any impact from gravity. When my feet were finally on the ground, I only stared into the direction the car had gone. I didn't fly over the car, but I jumped. I jumped really high. I looked over to the sidewalk to see the man that was following me, but no one was there.

Then I ran. I ran faster than I did before with the stalker. I needed to get to him and tell him what happened. He only lived a block away from the Petrelli Mansion, so I knew exactly where he was. I nearly tripped curving into his front door. I pressed on the door bell, God knows how knows how many times until Cole finally answered the door.

"Danni, what's your problem?" he demanded from me.

I entered his home without an invitation and slammed the door closed.

He looked at me with a frantic look. "Danni, what's going on?"

"I'm not sure. Something's happening to me and I'm scared to know what it is."

"What happened?"

I gulped. "After you left, Nathan came and as usual he pissed me off so I went to the dance studio to get my mind off of things. When I left, I was being followed by this man and then I saw this other man with horned rimmed glasses staring at me. I started to run into the street, but then a car came speeding towards me and…"

"Danni. Tell me what happened. It can't be as bad as you think it is."

"That's the thing, Cole. It is. I jumped over the car. I wanted to land on the hood, but I ended up going higher—way higher. When the car was gone, I floated down to the ground with hardly any gravity affecting me."

Cole stared at me with a blank expression.

"Well just don't stare at me like that?" I snapped at him. "Please tell me something to make the situation feel better."

"I'm sorry…I just can't believe what you did. You jumped over a car! That's amazing, Danni!"

I couldn't believe the enthusiasm in his voice. It was like he was _admiring_ this freakiness. "Did you hear what I said? I jumped over a car! That's not normal."

"That's why so it's so cool. You can fly. I wish I could do that."

"Well you can have it. I don't want this happening to me. I don't even know what is happening to me."

"Me either, Dan. But the best thing we can do right now is figure out what it is and go from there."

I gasped. "The book!"

"What book?"

"The book that Peter gave me today. It was about evolved humans or something. Maybe I can find my answers in there to get rid of it."

"Get rid of it?" he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah. Did you really think I wanted to stay like this? This thing is gonna ruin my life."

Cole grabbed his coat from the coat rack next to us. "Fine, I'll go along with whatever your plan is, but I highly doubt we can get rid of it."

"We have to try, Cole. I'm already pushing away people as we speak."

"Hey, Jack," he called to his older brother. "I'm gonna go out with Danni for a while."

"It's about time, bro," Jack shouted back.

"Not like that, Jack."

"Why can a girl and guy just hang out without assuming that they're dating?" I muttered to Cole.

Cole shook his head in response.

We arrived back home within minutes of jogging. I didn't even announce my arrival home as Cole and I hurried up the spiral staircase. I came into my room, heading straight towards the hamper. My hands scurried through the clothes inside, but I couldn't come across the book that Peter had given me.

"God, where is it?" I hissed.

"Do you know any possible place where you might have put it?" asked Cole.

"No. I specifically remember throwing it into here after Peter left."

"Geez, this is serious. You never get mad at Peter."

"I wasn't mad at him. I was scared for him I guess. I feel so stupid right now."

"Well the book is gone. What else do we have?"

My head snapped up from the hamper to my bag. "The comic book."

"You still kept it?"

"Yeah, but I didn't read a word of it."

I grabbed my bag from the edge of my bed and looked through it. It was still there thankfully. Whoever the thief was didn't think to look into my bag for further evidence. I took out the comic book and laid it out on my bed. I surfed through it finding that more events in the comic book replicated mine. Even my jump over the car was in there! If only I had skimmed through it while I was in the hospital. I stopped when book finally caught up the present.

"Maybe this guy, Isaac Mendez is special too," said Cole. "He can draw the future apparently."

"Maybe, but we can't let this get out to anybody. The only exception is Peter since I have to apologize to him…and to you. I'm sorry I was so cold to you earlier."

"You were scared and confused. It's okay."

"But seriously, we can't let this get out. I'll probably become some kind of science experiment if it does."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody. I promise."

"Ah, Danielle, you're back." Nathan stood in my doorway. "And you brought Cole."

"I was only gone for an hour," I said.

"Yes, but you need to get yourself ready for the campaign dinner."

"Right, I'll just do that."

"Cole, I suggest you go home and do the same."

Before Cole could respond, I cut in. "Yeah, Cole. We don't want to be late."

"Oh right, the campaign dinner," Cole put on a nervous smile as he got up. "I'll just go grab my brother's tux and head back over here. See you guys."

"Get home safe," Nathan gave one nod to Cole as he left.

I got up from my bed and began to head to the doorway. "Well thanks for stopping by, but I need to get ready so if you don't mind…"

"Right, I'll just meet you downstairs."

I shut the door before giving a sigh of relief. I knew Nathan was the liar now and he was using my memory loss as way to take advantage of me. I swear that man could be sick sometimes. Putting those thoughts aside, I decided to find a dress in my closet and get ready.

I finished cleaning up with brushing eyeliner onto my eyelashes. I didn't wear much make up, but for these formal events I did. I didn't wear anything too fancy either. Right now I wore a dark navy blue dress that went just past my knees with black high heels. For my dark hair, I just put it in a ponytail and put it to the side of my shoulder. With everything else in order, I began to head downstairs.

Cole was waiting by the front door when I came with an irritated expression. "Thanks for invite, Danni. I was completely ready for the news thirty minutes ago."

"If you're trying to be sarcastic, you need to work on it Drama Boy," I smirked at him.

Nathan strode into the room with Angela by his side.

"Oh, you're ready," he said to me. "Well, let's get going. Peter said he'd meet us there."

Perfect. I needed to explain to him what was happening to me and most of all I needed to apologize to him. I followed Nathan to the car waiting out front for us in complete silence. And of course with my luck, it was pouring on us like crazy. I also didn't have an umbrella on me so I just used my purse to cover my head until we entered the car.

Like most of the time at the Petrelli Mansion, the car ride was quiet. I only heard whispers between Angela and Nathan as if they didn't want to include me into some conversation they were having. I didn't mind it though. Most of their conversations consisted on politics and Nathan's campaign.

Tapping on my shoulder, Cole whispered to me. "So are we going to meet tomorrow…you know for that thing?"

It took me a few seconds to figure out what Cole was getting at, but I understood his code. "Yeah, we have to. I'm still kinda confused on what that thing I can do."

"I'll meet you tomorrow morning at the old abandoned warehouse. Make sure you bring the comic book."

"Wow, I'd never thought a comic book could be so important until now."

The car came to an abrupt stop.

"We're here," Nathan announced.

The door was soon opened as flashing lights came in. Cole and I followed behind Nathan and Angela as we walked into the swarm of camera flashing. This was one of the big reasons why I didn't want to be a part of Nathan's campaign: flashing cameras. It was like the photographers thought we were immune to becoming blind by their flashing! If I ever do become blind in the future, I'll sue the photographers and Nathan, for bringing me into this. My eyes were finally saved when we came inside.

Reason number two for not wanting to be a part of Nathan's campaign: the people. Every time I tried to pick up a conversation with them they would talk about themselves and how I should get into politics as well. Politics are not my thing, okay? Hopefully you understand that concept about me because these guys that I try to talk to at these parties don't. Before any of these people could pop a conversation with me, I pulled Cole towards the bar.

"So what do we do now?" he asked.

"Just stand around and pretend you're talking to me. I swear these people can be like leeches when it comes to conversations."

"Got that."

"Oh and we need to find Peter. I still need to apologize to him about today."

"Don't worry. I don't think he's holding a grudge against you. He's not the kind of person to do that."

I sighed. "I know, but I still feel bad. I let my fears and Nathan's lies get the better of me."

"What are you so afraid of?"

"I don't know what I'm afraid of exactly. I'm afraid that things are gonna get worse with my life and people changing their judgments about me. Not that I care what other people think of me, but I certainly don't want to be called a freak."

"Danielle Petrelli, you are not a freak. You're just different."

"That's what people say to make other people feel better."

"No, I mean it. Different is special and regardless of your…differences, you're special."

I blushed slightly at the comment. "Do you have any idea how cheesy that sounded?"

"What can I say? I'm into that stuff."

"And that's what makes _you_ special."

"Sure it does."

"Danni? What are you doing here?"

My heart leaped when I recognized the voice.

I turned to Peter. "What does it look like? I'm about to order some champagne. What about you?"

"Same reason except I can get away with it," he smiled.

"It's only five more years."

"But seriously, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to boost Nathan's points up in the polls. And you?"

"Basically the same thing adding to the part of moral support."

The smile on my face had now faded as I continued on. "Listen, Peter. I'm sorry about today. I shouldn't have been so cold with you."

"It's okay. I did sound a little bit irrational."

"No, you weren't. You were just trying to defend what you believed in and I was unwilling to listen to you. You were right all along about the flying thing. I was just stupid enough to listen to Nathan's lies."

"You weren't stupid. You just had no memory of what happened at the time."

"It sorta came back to me, but not all of it. I realized you were right when I jumped over a speeding car."

"Hm, that's a story I'd like to hear one day."

"It's more like a…novella if you ask me, but okay."

He suddenly turned his attention away from me and looked towards a woman ahead of us. I knew the look he was making too. Peter would make it all of the time whenever he had a crush on a girl.

"You like her, don't you?" I smirked.

I seemed to have caught him off guard as he answered me. "What? How do you…?"

"It's so obvious with the way you were looking at her. Why don't you go talk to her? Get to know someone new."

"I already know her. She's the daughter of the man I took care of."

"Why do you say that as if it's the past?"

"I quit my job today. I felt that I needed to broaden my horizons."

"Well you could broaden your horizons even more by talking to her. You never know."

Peter took a drink from the bar. "I will. See you later, Danni."

After Peter left to talk with the woman, I nudged Cole in the shoulder. "So how much chemistry do you think they have?"

"You're seriously asking me this?" Cole said bluntly.

"Well Ava isn't around, so you're the only other person who can express their opinions on this."

Ava was a friend that I've had as long as Cole. Ava and I weren't exactly as close as Cole and I, but we were pretty good friends.

"Well, Ava's a girl," he protested.

"You can still put out your opinion."

"Fine. The girl that Peter's into is most likely interested in him, but doesn't know it and Peter definitely has eyes for her."

"Close enough."

"Excuse me," Nathan's voice came from the microphone. "Everyone, excuse me."

Cole and I looked over to Nathan who was standing at the podium now in front of the sign that said: "Vote Petrelli."

"I'd like to apologize about the rain," he continued. "If you elect me, I promise I'll try and do something about that." Everyone gave a short laugh at the joke and went on with his speech. "I'd like to welcome you all here on behalf of my family, campaign staff. I'm sure you know that my brave wife would be here by my side were she able. The life altering event of my father's death is really what prompted me to run for congress. My father hid a deep depression, an illness, really, up until the day he died. His loving wife, his attentive children, his loyal friends, we all knew about it and yet he suffered alone. As many of you might have read, my brother, Peter, had an accident involving my sister, Danielle."

That was when I really paid attention to what he was saying. I really hoped he wouldn't go any further just for his sake.

"But what I have kept from the press thus far is that Peter barely survived a suicide attempt as Danielle tried to prevent him to do so."

I only stared at Nathan wide eyed as the cameras were directed at Peter and I. How could Nathan tell such a lie about his brother? I could understand why he would lie about me, but Peter…

"My first instinct was to keep his illness hidden, but no one should suffer alone. Because we're all connected somehow, everyone is this room, you, me, everyone is this city. And we need to look out for each other."

It was one thing to lie to one person, but to lie to all of New York City was immoral. I didn't know why he would do such a thing to his own family. Peter didn't do anything to deserve this. Why was Nathan creating lies to cover this up? I was not only ashamed of Nathan, but enraged at him. It was clear that Nathan was putting his campaign before his family.

In a flash, I saw Peter storm by me. I went to follow him, but Cole held me back.

"Let him cool off for a while," he whispered.

"Fine, but I'm still going to tell Nathan what a bastard he is."

Days seemed to drag on as I waited for the cameras to leave Nathan. I really wanted to give him a piece of my mind. I wasn't going to tell him that I knew the real story behind the suicide attempt, but I was planning on telling him on how wrong it was to announce Peter's apparent suicide attempt to New York.

Unfortunately for me, Nathan didn't escape the cameras until the dinner was over. Once I made sure Cole's brother, Jackson, picked Cole up. I followed Nathan outside.

"Nathan!" I called after him. Again, I had no umbrella, but I didn't really care at this point whether or not I got wet. "Nathan Petrelli!"

Nathan turned to me with this crowd of security guards behind him. "Danielle, what are you doing out here in the rain? Aren't you supposed to be with Mom?"

"I needed to talk to you first."

"Here get under the umbrella first. You don't want to get a cold with your condition."

"Yeah because I'm so fragile."

"Come here," he grabbed my shoulder, guiding me under the umbrella that one of the security guards held. "Now what was it that you wanted to talk about?"

I walked by Nathan's side as we headed towards the parking garage. "The announcement you just made to the world. No one needed to know about Peter's suicide attempt."

"Yeah, that's what Dad thought and look where he is now."

"Arthur didn't commit suicide. He had a heart attack, remember?"

"No, he did. What Ma and I didn't tell you and Peter was that Dad committed suicide."

"That still doesn't excuse you from revealing personal information about somebody. I sure wouldn't want something that personal about me being leaked without my consent."

"Peter will thank me one day. I'm just trying to clear things up before there's another unbelievable story."

I gave a humorless laugh. "Sure let's just go with that since that makes perfect sense."

"Great, glad you understand. Here, I'll take you home since I don't want you to walk through the rain again."

_Sure, you don't._ Again with the publicity. If he had left me out in the rain, some reporter would've made some story up about him being cruel to his foster sister. Nathan wasn't exactly cruel to me. He just ignored me most of the time. I speak for the rest of the walk to the parking garage, but Nathan on the other hand was telling cheesy jokes to his guards.

"…turns around to the other one and says, 'Holy cow, a talking dog,'" he finished his last joke before approaching the suburban that appeared in front of us.

Just before he could get into the car though, someone came and punched Nathan out of the way.

I looked at the intruder wide-eyed as I realized who it was. "Peter? What are you doing?"

Peter ignored my question with his full attention on Nathan. "You son of a bitch!"

Nathan's security guards didn't wait one second to pin Peter to the wall.

"Let him go," Nathan said, rubbing his cheek.

The guards let Peter go, allowing him to storm back to Nathan and I.

"Easy, Pete, that's our mother you're talking about."

"There was no reporter on my story!" Peter yelled.

I glared at Nathan. "There wasn't?"

"Yeah, but there would have been eventually," Nathan approached Peter. "I had to take control of things before something happened. Do you understand?"

Peter's only answer was another punch at Nathan's jaw.

I smirked. "My exact words."

"Ow," was Nathan's only response to the punch. "You get it, right?"

"Yeah, I get it," Peter answered sourly.

"Good man."

Peter stormed off yet again into the rain.

"What is your problem?" I sneered at Nathan before heading towards Peter.

"No, Danielle, get back here."

I tried to move further, but I was stopped by the guards. "You let Peter get away, why not me?"

"Peter's not in his right mind. You need to get home and get some rest to forget this foolishness ever happened."

"Too late for that, Nate."

"You're still coming with me."

Although reluctant, I agreed to come with Nathan. No matter how hard Nathan tried there was no way I could forget what I had just witnessed and most of all, what I'm able to do. I just hope that it doesn't cause me any trouble until I can get rid of it.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading and Happy New Year's! I hope you're enjoying where the story is going so far. The next chapter will focus mainly on Danni figuring out her power as much as she can, so it doesn't follow the next episode directly but again, she's her own person. Danni and Cole are having their own story at this point. Well until next time.<p>

~Emyrox567


	4. Explore the Unknown

Explore the Unknown

"Hey, Pete," I spoke into my cell phone. "I just called to check to see if you were okay. I was about to come after you when you punched Nathan, but he decided to keep me hostage and take me home. I'm sorry about what Nathan said about you and he really did deserve those punches. Just call me when you get this, okay?"

I ended the call, squeezing my phone. I was worried about him to say the least. He didn't call me last night to tell me he was okay. I knew Nathan was right about Peter not being in his right mind. I really hoped he didn't do anything stupid…again. He may be able to fly, but he can certainly get hurt too.

Looking at the time, I realized that Cole and I were supposed to meet this morning to see what exactly I can do. There was no question about me hating this…thing I have, but in order to get rid of it I had to learn more about it.

Once I had finished get ready, I grabbed my bag and headed down the staircase. I had never announced that I was coming and going mostly because Angela didn't seem to care. Besides I always came back anyway. It's not like I had anywhere else to go.

"Where are you heading off to?"

My heart stopped when I turned to find that it was Angela's voice that had stopped me. "I was…just going over to Cole's to work on a history paper with him. It's due tomorrow, so I gotta go."

"Nathan told me of Peter's outburst," she stated. "I just wanted to know if you were hurt in anyway."

I could've sworn I was in this parallel universe where Nathan and Angela actually cared about me. I was a little creped out, if you want to know the truth. But then I remembered Nathan's campaign and how important family image is in front of the cameras.

"I wasn't hurt," I said. "I was disappointed in Nathan, actually. He shouldn't have announced Peter's suicide attempt to the world."

"I agree with you, but Nathan was only trying to protect Peter."

"How? By disgracing him in front of the world? I may not be blood-related to him, but that's not what siblings should do to each other."

"Nathan has his own reasons for what he did, but you need to wait and see where the pieces may fall."

"Yeah, in the trash. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go."

I left through the front door before she could say anything else to stop me.

As Cole and I had planned, I met him in front of the abandoned warehouse just a few blocks to where my school was. From what I heard the warehouse used to be home to a shoe making company in the fifties, but now it was a rusted old metal building waiting for someone to use it. I had no idea why Cole thought this place would be perfect enough to test what I could do. You think with an ability like mine, I would be testing it out in an open place.

I approached Cole who leaned against the front door of the establishment. "So what exactly are you planning to do for a few test runs?"

"For now we're just checking out the flying ability then maybe we can go to the jumping part of it."

"Sounds like a plan, but do you really this place is gonna help?"

"Definitely. We need a place that has a lot of room yet is enclosed and has not been bothered for some odd years now. This abandoned shoe factory is our best bet."

"Looks like you did a lot of research on this. Did you know I was going to cave in some time?"

Cole thought to himself for a moment. "I know that you are very stubborn, but when the right thing comes around you finally start listening. So I was ten percent sure that you would come around."

"I'm surprised it's not lower. I even kicked Peter out for making the accusation as well."

"Forget about that. Forget about everything. Heck, even turn off your phone to avoid any distractions. Right now this is all about you. We need to figure out what it is that you can do."

I sighed. "You're right. It's time I finally figure out what's going on." I reached into my pocket and took out my phone. I hit the power button. "No distractions."

"Great, now let's get inside."

It wasn't a struggle to get inside the warehouse. The locks weren't even locked. Apparently people thought that the building was so worthless that there was nothing that anybody wanted to steal anyway. The only use I could see for the building was shelter for the homeless and for special cases like me. When we came inside I saw Cole's reasoning behind using this place. It was huge!

The warehouse was shaped like a square arena with an arched roof that seemed to extend for miles. No shelves inhabited the warehouse floor. Only dust and empty boxes rested on the ancient floor. At the end of the large room was a staircase leading to a balcony that stretched all around the warehouse.

"You sure know how to pick a place," I said in a low voice.

"Thanks. Now what do you want to start with?"

"I don't know. I stopped us from falling the first time. The second time Peter said that I flew up to save him and the third I jumped over a car."

"Do you have the comic book?"

I took it out of my messenger bag in response. "Are you sure this is going to help? It is a comic book after all."

"It's all we have since you can't find that book."

"I still don't know where that is. I turned my room inside out for it and I still can't find it."

"Nonetheless that comic book has been right so far. Maybe it can tell us what we should do first."

I held the comic book out to him. "You read it. I'm already freaked out with my own power; I don't need to believe in this future mumbo-jumbo stuff."

He took the comic book from me and flipped through the pages. "Ah, here we go. We're going to start off with flying first since it's probably the safest way to go."

"So…what do I do?"

"I don't know. It's your power."

He was right. It was my power, but that still didn't mean that I knew how to control it.

"Okay, let's try it this way," Cole grasped my shoulders and pulled me into the middle of the building as much as he could. "You stand there, I'll back away, and you just fly."

I gave him the same look of disbelief I had given him plenty of times before. "How? It's not like there's an instruction booklet for my powers."

"Just wing it for now. I'm pretty sure we'll think of something along the way."

I sighed heavily in agreement as he walked off to the side. I wasn't sure how this was going to work. We were performing an experiment without the data. I figured as long as none of us got hurt this would be worth it. Especially if I knew how to shut it off.

"You can start now, Danni," Cole encouraged.

I stared up at the ceiling and put my arms up in the air. "Take me now, oh great ceiling!"

"Danni, I don't think summoning your powers isn't going to work like that."

"Sorry, I'm just trying to shed some light on the situation considering I have no idea what to do."

"But you did it before," he said.

I stared at him bluntly. "Tell me something I don't know. The only thing I'm trying to figure out is how I did it."

"From what happened with us, your incident with Peter, and the car jumping incident, there seem to be one common factor with each of them: stress or some kind of strong emotion occurring."

"But how can I feel that again, Cole? The first time I was worried about us crumbling to the ground, I don't exactly remember the situation with Peter and I was scared for my life in front of the speeding car. I can't just induce all that fear right on the spot."

"You've got a point there. Let's just figure out how to get through to your power in a different way."

"Fine with me."

The next two hours were spent jumping and attempting to soar off of small ledges. None unfortunately worked. The closest I came to flying was those short moments before my knees met with the ground. I couldn't tell you how many times I landed on my side that day. I wouldn't be surprised if I found a series of bruises there that night. I didn't know why I was being this desperate. Maybe it was the curiosity of what this thing actually was or the fear that it might become worse and I had to know how it worked now before anything else got out of hand.

While I was nearly breaking bones though, Cole had been extremely quiet after the first hour. His enthusiasm was obviously worn out. I knew he was there because he would quietly flip through the pages of the comic book occasionally. I had come to the point where I was lying on the dusty hard ground. How did birds do this every day? They made it look easy. I sat up to look at Cole, but he had disappeared.

"Cole?"

No answer. I shrugged. He probably just went to go get some lunch or something. I wasn't too worried about him. Most of the time he was careful (sometimes even more than I was). Translation: he wouldn't do anything stupid. A sudden irritation came to my nose. It scrunched up until I let out a loud sneeze.

That would be the way it should have happened, but it didn't.

When I had sneezed, I let out huge puff of air causing myself to be thrown a good distance across the room. I landed roughly on my back as a result.

"Sure! _Now_ it works!" I shouted to the sky in irritation.

"Whoa, that was cool," Cole's voice echoed throughout the warehouse.

I looked up to find Cole on the balcony leaning against the old railings. "Cole, how and why did you get up there?"

"There's stairs, duh, and I was bored."

"Just get back down here. You don't know how stable those things are."

As if I had said something to jinx it, the railing completely ripped off right off from under Cole. His feet wobbled on the edge for a little bit, but his body began crashing down. Without giving it a second thought, I soared over to Cole. I had him in my arms as fast I had lifted off.

"See what I mean?" I scolded him.

Cole only waved it off. "It worked."

"What worked?"

"My experiment. I thought if I put myself in danger somehow, your powers would work again and they did."

I gave him a questioning look before looking down. It had worked. We were flying at least ten feet above the ground.

I struggled to hold his weight in the air. "You have no idea how much I want to drop you to the ground now."

"It was the only way it would have worked. Now you have an idea on how to use your powers."

"Yes, I can use it to save cats from trees and idiots from buildings. Such a great tool."

"Nonetheless, you finally got your powers to work."

I glanced down to the ground. "Now the question is how do we get down without crashing?"

"Beats me. It's your power. How'd you get up here in the first place?"

I knew clearly the emotions that were running through my head during the time Cole was falling down, but I didn't know what I had done to make myself fly or throw myself across the room with one puff of air. I knew one thing I did not do though: think. I only acted when I did those things. Like walking or running. I took in a deep breath and relaxed all of my nerves.

Much to my surprise my theory had worked. We were slowly floating down to the ground. My feet had gracefully landed on the ground while Cole's feet landed with the usual _thud_.

"Now that we've got the controlling your power thing out of the way," said Cole. "Let's get this show on the road."

I had agreed completely. For the rest of the time we were at the warehouse, I had flown around the room. I jumped off of the walls and did small tricks as I flew. We couldn't get the air thing to work again, but I didn't mind it. I was surely farther in my knowledge of my power than I was before. Yet somehow I knew there was more that I could do.

I returned to the ground after my final trial in the air. "Wow, I cannot believe I just did that."

"Me neither," he smiled. "You were incredible."

"Too bad I'm gonna have to shut them off."

Cole's smile faded. "Shut them off?"

"Yeah, I can't use them anymore."

"Says who?"

I stared at him as if it were obvious (which it was). "My life. It's already complicated enough without this thing."

"Then why did you just fly around the room?"

"I needed to know enough on how to control it. Nobody, but me, you and Peter can know about this."

"Nathan knows."

"Yes, but he doesn't know that I remember quite yet now does he?" I smirked.

"So, what? You're just gonna ignore what's happened to you?"

"That's basically the plan."

"It's not as easy as that, Dan. This is huge. Like evolution huge."

"Well this evolution is going to keep quiet. I know for a fact that I do not want to be part of a science experiment."

Like Cole usual did, he pressed the conversation even further. "You won't be, Danni. I'm not saying going out in the open with this just yet, but don't ignore this."

"I'm freak, Cole!" I blew up in his face. "When I sneeze I cause a huge puff of air, I can jump at least five feet—if not higher—and I can fly. No one can do what I can do."

"That's exactly what makes you unique. Imagine if everybody was the same; do have any idea how boring our world would be? I already thought it was boring enough, but then this happens and I'm starting to see how extraordinary things can be."

"Like how?"

"You were just this sarcastic sixteen year old girl who loves to dance a week ago. Now here you are learning how to fly. I think that's pretty extraordinary."

I sighed. He made a good point. "As extraordinary as this may be to you, it isn't for me. It's only another addition to my problems. Maybe I'll be able to appreciate it after I move out, but for now I just want to focus on what is going on."

"Well I can't force you to do anything. It's your powers and you can do whatever you want with them. I'll respect that."

"Thank you."

"So do you want to head on out now since we're pretty much done here?"

"Sure."

I bent down to grab my bag, suddenly freezing. There was still one question that bothered me. I knew it would be a stupid question the minute I asked it, but I couldn't resist.

"Wait, Cole," I said.

Cole turned to face me.

"Why didn't you run the minute you knew what I could do?"

He seemed a little bit offended. "What do you mean by that?"

"I was scared the minute I realized what I was truly capable of. But why weren't you? You decided to press on with the subject instead of avoiding it like I did."

"Danni, you should know that I wouldn't care if you grew a second head that day. You're my best friend. Anything that happens to you, I'm there. I'll even be there in the future."

I gave him a small smile. "That's all wanted to know, thanks."

"Plus…this is kind of a comic book fan boy's dream to live."

"Now that was answer I was expecting, but I did appreciate the fluffy stuff." I put an arm around him. "Let's head on out before anybody gets suspicious."

"Good plan."

You have no idea how grateful I was to have Cole Bowman as my best friend. He was there through thick and thin no matter what. And in return, I did the same. I guess that's why we've been friends for so long, we understand each other and our faith in each other is greater than any force that I've ever experienced on this planet. We were both each other's solid ground.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! I know this was a short chapter, but I wanted to give some insight to Cole and Danni's relationship. Now I know many of you reading this are shy, but it would be nice if you left a review. I'm not begging you to do it. I just want to know your input about the story and what you think. I'm already one chapter away from writing How to Stop an Exploding Man and have planned 34 of the entire series. There still some room for improvement, if any. Like I said, I'm not forcing you and I'm not asking you to write an analysis, but it would be nice if you let me know what you thought. Follow me on Twitter for updates.

~Emyrox567


	5. Secrets Are Best Kept Quiet

Secrets Are Best Kept Quiet

You would think my story would've ended right there. There's no problem so the hero quits despite knowing they are capable of so much more. But I'm sad to say, that my story did not end there (as much as I wished it did). The problem had no yet arisen, but it would soon.

From the two weeks where I had last left you, nothing had happened. I'm serious. Nothing happened. Well nothing interesting anyway. Unless you really want to know about my C average in Chemistry then I'd better get on to the interesting parts that happened to me _after _the two weeks. Oh, and by nothing, I mean my powers not once were activated with or without my consent. So far my goal is completely reached.

Not to say that it was easy. I had to hold in my sneezes and make sure I didn't freak out too much. Not a big deal.

It was a Saturday and I lied in my bed curled up in my blankets. There's was nothing like sleeping in on the weekends after a stressful week. I soon began to hear whispers and giggles. I brushed them off since they suddenly died down.

Two small voices suddenly screamed in my ear. "Hey, Aunt Danni!"

My eyes shot open with me gasping in surprise. My body moved away from the loud voices which unfortunately had me fall to the floor. I looked up from the side of my bed.

I moaned. "Monty. Simon. What are you doing here?"

Monty and Simon Petrelli were Nathan's sons. Both had inherited their father's features with their dark blond hair and hazel eyes. Simon was just a couple feet taller than Monty though. Their personalities were different as well. Simon seemed to be just like his father with his wit and natural born leadership. As for Monty, he seemed to have taken most of Nathan's wife's, Heidi, traits with her compassion and patience. But overall they were sweet kids…that could annoy the hell out you sometimes.

"Daddy's picking you and grandma up," Monty bounced excitedly.

"Why?"

"We're going to be spending the whole day together!"

"Dad said to go wake you up and to tell you to get ready," said Simon. "Oh, and to meet us downstairs."

I got to my feet. "And why am I doing this again?"

"Daddy says it's a family day!" Monty said with glee.

"I don't know guys. My migraines are still kind of there and I have a lot of homework to do."

"Please. It'll be boring there without you."

I could see why Nathan sent his sons to wake me up instead of doing it himself. They were very persuasive.

Monty gave me glossy eyes. "I wanted you to teach me how to play Uno."

I tried to look away from his disappointed face. I remembered promising him to teach Monty how to play Uno the next time we got to together. Ugh, why did kids have to do this?

"Fine," I said. "I'll come."

Monty's face lit up. "Yay!"

"Yeah, yay, I'm coming. Now could you guys wait downstairs so I can change?"

"OK, Aunt Danni. Let's go, Simon."

Once the boys left the room, I changed into a Green Day shirt and jeans. I hadn't even bothered to brush my hair that morning. It was up in a ponytail so nobody would notice anyway. I quickly put on a pair of shoes, grabbed my stack of Uno cards and headed down the stairs.

Angela, Nathan, Simon, and Monty were all waiting at the front door when I arrived.

Nathan glanced up once at me. "All right guys, let's get going. We don't want to keep your mom waiting."

Nathan led Simon and Monty out the door while I went to get my jacket. A hand grasped my shoulder causing me to turn around.

Angela looked at me, appalled. "Surely, you aren't going to wear that with the boys around?"

She gestured towards my Green Day shirt. It had the exact image from their _American Idiot _album with hand squeezing a bloody grenade. I could see Angela's point of the shirt having a bad influence on the boys, but quite frankly I didn't care.

"It's a grenade. They're boys. They're gonna learn about it sometime," I defended.

"I still don't think they should see that."

"Fine, I'll just put my jacket over it if you're so concerned about it."

I hastily put my jacket on as I headed towards the door.

"I'm trying to help you make yourself presentable," she said.

"It's just a Green Day t-shirt. It's not like I'm showing a lot of skin like a bunch of other girls at my school."

"Believe it or not, you have a lot of influence over the boys. I just want to make sure it's a good one."

I gave a quick nod of comprehension. I got the whole overprotective grandma thing, but I did not appreciate the motherly side of it. Angela was not my mother and she couldn't tell me what to do. Not that she acted like my mother anyway. Which I'm some ways I was glad for mostly because it kept the memory of my real mom alive. I really don't feel like getting into that mushy stuff about my mom yet, so I'll just leave her as a mystery to you for now.

The car ride to Nathan's house was quiet except for the boys playing video games on their Nintendo DS. I actually fell asleep during the car ride. Monty and Simon had disrupted a very important part of my day.

I was awoken when the car came to a stop. Nathan's home was very similar to the Petrelli Mansion. It had its largeness, but the area was a lot more wide open than the city of Manhattan. I followed Angela and Nathan with Monty and Simon by my side.

"A bird flew into my class last week," Monty said with enthusiasm.

I pretended to share the same enthusiasm. "Really? What kind was it?"

"I don't know, but it was small and black. I wanted to keep it as pet, but my teacher shooed it out."

"I'm sorry, Mont. If you really want a pet that bad maybe you should talk to your mom and dad about that."

"I tried, but they said I wasn't old enough…"

"Well there's no shame in waiting. I'm pretty sure they'll let you have a pet as soon as you show how responsible you can be."

"We already tried that," said Simon. "They still won't budge."

"There's still nothing I can do from here, guys. Sorry."

"But aren't you Dad's little sister?"

I held in the urge to correct Simon. "That still doesn't change anything, Si."

These boys seriously thought too much of their father. It didn't matter who talked to Nathan. Once his mind was made up, there was no changing it.

Hardly a noise stirred as we entered Nathan's home. I soon began to hear wheels rolling on the tile floors. I looked up to see Heidi greeting us with a smile.

"Glad to see you guys got back okay," she said.

It still made me sad to see Heidi in some ways. Not that her appearance was unbearable. She had beautiful raven hair and grey eyes that glowed from her light skin. From what I could see, it seemed as if almost every Petrelli had black hair. Angela had black hair. Peter had black hair. Heck, even I had black hair and I wasn't even blood related to them. But back to the point, it wasn't her appearance that made me sad, it was her condition. Six months ago, Nathan and Heidi were in a really bad car crash. Since then, she's been confined to a wheelchair.

Although you had to look very hard to see it, Nathan still felt the guilt from the car crash. He was the one driving the car.

Nathan bent down to kiss Heidi. "It wasn't that bad of a drive. It was a matter of getting everyone ready on time."

I knew too well he was referencing to me. "Hey. I didn't know we were coming over here in the first place."

"I thought since you were involved with the campaign that you might want to help pick out the post cards."

"Post cards?"

"Yeah, to send the voters."

I really didn't want to spend my Saturday picking out post cards for something that I could care less about.

"I would help, but I promised Monty that I would teach him how to play Uno," I said.

Monty was on board with me on that. "Yeah!"

"You can teach him how to play Uno while you're picking out Post cards," Nathan reasoned.

I rolled my eyes in defeat. "Whatever, Nate. Let's just get this thing over with."

"Nathan, you don't have to force Danni to do anything," Heidi said, almost scolding.

Nathan didn't budge. "Yes, but she's a representative for this campaign. She needs to put her opinion on some things."

"She's only sixteen, Nathan. It's like asking Simon and Monty to do our taxes for us."

"Fine. If you're so concerned about it then you, Danielle and my mom can choose."

"It was definitely better than before."

I always enjoyed the power that Heidi had over Nathan. No matter what the situation, she could make him do whatever she pleased. Everyone began to pile into the living room leaving me alone with Heidi.

"Danni, could you help me get over to the living room?" Heidi asked.

"Sure."

I grabbed the handles of her wheelchair and pushed her towards the living room.

"Thank you by the way," I whispered to her.

"You're welcome. Nathan can be tough on you sometimes."

"He's always tough on me. I've just learned to deal with it."

"So how's the concussion?"

"It's getting better," I said. "I still get the migraines, but they weren't nearly as bad as before."

"And you still don't remember what happened, huh?"

"No. It's still a blur to me."

I wanted to say that her husband was a dirty liar, but I couldn't bring myself to. Mostly because it would involve me to tell her of the secret that have been able to keep for the past couple weeks. I rolled Heidi next to an empty seat at the small white table in the living room. I sat in the empty seat next to Monty.

"Can we play Uno now?" Monty begged.

"All right. Let's split up the cards first." I took the stack of cards from my pocket. "Do you wanna play, Simon?"

Simon nodded. Once I had given them an even amount of cards, I told them about the game. They caught on pretty fast. Within the next few minutes we were playing head to head. Especially Monty and Simon.

Angela had come back the postcards by that time. "Linderman gave you four million dollars and you're spending it on post cards."

"Hm, I didn't realize Linderman had that much money to give out," I commented.

"That why I went to Las Vegas a couple weeks ago," said Nathan. "I was going to get a loan and it just now processed."

"Either that or he just decided not to say 'Gotcha!'"

Nathan ignored my sarcasm. "Just take a look at the cards."

"You seriously are no fun, but okay."

I looked over at the postcards while Monty and Simon continued the game. One of them had a picture of Nathan that looked superior and the other had a picture of him with the usual friendly smile that he gave when he was being obnoxious. Hmm. The real question was: The truth or deceit?

I pointed to the red postcard with Nathan's superior picture. "That, I think shows your true potential."

Nathan and Angela looked at Heidi expectantly.

"I take it I'm supposed to choose now?" she assumed.

Heidi pointed to blue one with Nathan smiling. "That one."

Angela gave an agreeing expression. Oh, well I was voted out.

Nathan picked up the postcards. "Oh, if that isn't a red flag, you two agreeing on something. All right, I'm gonna go to the office and have this printed out."

_Yes! I can finally leave!_ I thought gratefully to myself.

It didn't take long for Angela to finally crush my spirits. "Don't you want to hear about how _The New York Journal_ wants to do a cover story on you?"

Nathan stopped dead on his tracks. I watched attentively to see where this was going.

"I've invited Oliver Dennison to come for family brunch and do an interview," she continued.

"You're kidding," Nathan and I said in the same surprised tone.

"No, I never kid about family brunch."

"That's because we've never had family brunch," Nathan stated.

I nodded. "For once I actually agree with him and I have to tell you, it's pretty big."

"Nathan, this could be great," Heidi tried to convince.

He was still doubtful. "I don't know. Dennison could go anywhere for a bagel. If he comes here, he's gonna want something."

"Nothing wrong with taking advantage of an opportunity," Angela reassured her son.

"Mandy?" Nathan called the nanny. "Kids, why don't you go finish that train set we started this morning, all right?"

"But I want to play Uno," Monty moaned.

"Here, you guys can keep the cards," I handed Monty the cards in my hand.

Monty took them with excitement. "Thank you, Aunt Danni."

"You're welcome, Mont."

Nathan waited until the boys were out of the room to continue the conversation. I had a feeling that it was about to get touchy.

"I am not going to use my family for political gain," Nathan said in a low voice.

I swear I could've laughed my head off from that statement. But I only snorted. "Yeah and I'm just a ward to the Petrelli family."

"Tell that to Peter and Danni," Heidi rebutted. "Nathan, you've been trying to protect me since this happened. And it's sweet in theory, but in practice, it's insulting. I'm not made of glass."

"I know," Nathan said. "But we don't need this."

Nathan was about to leave the room, but Heidi stopped him.

"Four points behind says we do," she said. "Now, I've been hiding in this house for the last six months because your polling was afraid I'd make you look weak. But now I can help by coming forward. Let me."

I sighed. "Give her a chance, Nate. I would lose my mind too if I had live in the dark for that long."

That was part of the guilt thing that Nathan felt for Heidi. He didn't want her anywhere near the media so that she wouldn't get hurt. He was being overprotective about it though. I knew Heidi would be able to stand up to a simple news reporter if she was strong enough to deal with what she's dealing with right now.

Nathan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Are you sure about this?"

Heidi looked to Angela. "Set it up."

"Chef's been cooking all morning," Angela informed as she turned to leave. "Oliver will be here in an hour."

Of course, leave it to Angela to keep things to herself until the last minute.

"Then I better get ready," Heidi wheeled herself away from the table.

"Good idea," Nathan agreed and then looked back to me. "You should probably do that too."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "How? I only brought myself."

"There's a guest bedroom upstairs with a couple dresses up there. You can go and see if they fit you or not."

Instead of arguing with him, I decided to head to the guest bedroom.

"Wait," he stopped me. "Have you talked to Peter lately?"

I turned to him. "No. We still haven't talked since your little announcement. But he did leave me a message saying that he got home fine."

"He said nothing else?"

"Nope. It's really depressing actually, but to spare your boredom, I will not go into it."

I left him before he could ask me anything else. Peter and I had not spoken since that night. I tried to call him for the first couple days, but he wasn't answering any of them. So in my effort not to sound desperate, I stopped. I had no idea what could stop him from calling me back. I knew it wasn't work. Being a hospice nurse didn't exactly wear you out, you know. I had waited for Peter to call me himself, but I couldn't help losing hope each day that passed by.

Thankfully I did find a dress in my size. It was a white sundress with a purple sweater over it. As for the shoes, I just borrowed some sandals from Heidi that I thought to have matched it at least a little. I was on my way back to the living room when I heard my phone ringing.

I answered it without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Hey, Danni," said Cole's voice. "Do you want to come and have lunch with Ava and me?"

"You have no idea how much I would love to, but I can't. I have to have brunch with the Petrellis and Oliver Dennison from _The New York Journal_."

"Sounds serious. I'll let you go then. Wait, I just remembered something. Peter stopped by here looking for you."

I was taken aback. "He did?"

"Yeah, he said he needed to talk to you about something important. You should give him a call after your brunch thing."

"I will. Thanks and goodbye, Cole."

I hung up my phone, smiling. Things were really starting to turn up.

"Danielle," Nathan's voice came from behind. "What are you doing standing here in the hallway? Oliver Dennison has already arrived."

"Wow an hour does travel by fast."

Nathan gave me a gentle push. "C'mon."

With the exception of stopping by the kitchen to grab a plate of food, we headed straight towards the backyard patio where we found the rest of the Petrellis and a man that I presumed to be Oliver Dennison sitting at the table.

"We're usually in our pajamas around the breakfast table," Nathan said to Oliver. "You can't blame us for cleaning up for _The Journal_."

"Not when the hollandaise is made fresh," Oliver said.

I sat down in the seat next to Heidi. "Sorry I'm late. I had a hard time finding something to wear."

"It's quite all right. It's something I would expect from a teenage girl such as yourself," he said.

"And that would mean…"

"Your brother is running for congress. I'd think you'd want to make a good impression on the cameras."

I bit my tongue to resist from saying anything insulting to the man. Why I was being this generous to Nathan, I had no idea.

I put on a smile. "I see. Well, I just needed some clarification on that."

I quickly put some food on my plate before I said anymore.

Oliver faced Heidi. "You seem to be adjusting well."

"To the wheelchair?" Heidi inquired. "You can say it, Mr. Dennison. I lost my right to be sensitive when I married Nathan. I'm not saying I didn't have my darker moments during rehabilitation. I was angry for a long time."

"At your husband."

Everyone became silent. It was like a virus whenever anyone mentioned the accident.

"Wasn't he driving?" he pressed the issue further.

Heidi paused before answering. "At God. But we seem to have made our peace."

I smiled at Heidi for her bravery. Although I wasn't around her for her rehabilitation all that much, I still admired her for her perseverance and the strength not to blame anyone in particular.

"Oh, hello, Peter," said Angela.

I looked up from my plate in shock. There he was. The brother who had actually treated me like a sister. I wanted nothing more than to jump up and hug him, but shock from seeing him for the first time in two weeks was too much. And to make things even better, I could see the frustrated look on Nathan's face. Nothing else in this world made me happier.

Peter gave a questioning look to all of us. "What's this?"

Angela tried to keep up the image for the reporter. "It's brunch. We always have brunch."

"Since when?"

Nathan got up from his seat, leading Peter back inside. "Will you excuse me? Peter, how good to see you. Nice of you to drop by, Peter."

"I'm guessing he didn't get the memo?" said Oliver.

"You have no idea," I muttered.

"So, Danielle, right?"

I nodded. "Most people call me Danni though."

"Danni, how have you adjusted with Petrelli family? Since you were adopted by them four years ago."

I paused for a moment before answering. How would I put this so that it wouldn't hurt Nathan's campaign?

"I've adjusted just fine, but it's still not easy coming back from your mother dying in a car crash," I responded.

"Now tell me about your mother. What was she like and did she have any sort of connection to the Petrelli family that would lead them to adopt you?"

"Well as for the connection thing, I don't know if she was somehow associated with the Petrellis. But I knew that she was one of the best moms anyone could ever have. Granted, we lived in various apartments instead of mansions, but she still managed to take care of us."

"As for your father, do you know where he is?"

"I don't know who he is nor do I care. I'm just glad that I'm not bouncing from one foster home to the other like other kids like me these days."

Oliver was about to ask yet another question about my personal life when Peter and Nathan walked back to the table.

"Sorry," said Peter. "Nathan gave me an earful about showing up in cords."

To frustrate Nathan even further, he sat down in Nathan's seat. "Told him I'm trying to stay grounded."

"Good to have you back," Nathan mumbled.

I had a feeling of what their small little talk was about. It was probably something about Peter claiming that he could fly or something along those lines. The brunch went on as if Peter's appearance hadn't made a difference. Oliver asked Nathan on what he was planning to do as New York's congressman and Angela on what he was like as a child. That was to be expected of course. But I didn't expect him to ask me about my mom. As you can probably tell, I don't really like to talk about it. She was not a bad mom I can guarantee you that, but it still hurts to talk about her.

"Of course I'm gonna vote for Nathan," Peter grabbed a blueberry. "If Nathan takes care of people, half as much as he takes care of his brother and his sister, it's gonna be an interesting city."

"Pretty special family," Oliver commented.

"You have no idea." Peter smiled smugly towards Nathan.

"This is all very inspiring. I was surprised to learn the Linderman group recently invested in your campaign."

"I don't know why you'd be surprised," said Nathan. "Mr. Linderman was a good friend of my father's."

"So you don't deny going to Las Vegas to meet with a reputed mobster?"

Nathan smiled. "Is that why you're here?"

"I spoke with a former member of your security detail," Oliver explained. "It seems there was a bit of a scare that you disappeared from the casino for several hours, and there was a blond involved."

I stopped eating my food at this point. What blond? I really hoped for Heidi's sake that Nathan wasn't doing what I thought he was doing for those several hours. Could the guilt for driving Heidi into that chair push him that far?

Peter was the first to break the silence. "It's all right, Nathan. You can tell him."

"Right…" Nathan seemed lost for words.

"I'm sure you've recently heard about my mental issues. I quit my job because of it. My brother basically saved my life, and he's convinced me to get the help that I needed."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Peter was the one telling me not buy into Nathan's lies and here he was just supporting him for doing so.

"There's a private clinic outside of Vegas. Nathan went, spoke to a doctor, a woman doctor. I made him promise that no one would know. Not even the family, but I just don't care who knows anymore. Okay?"

"I didn't want to say anything until I cleared it with you," said Nathan.

"That's Nathan. You know, right in the middle of an election he still has time to help out his messed up little brother."

I wanted to say so many things to those boys. Nathan was an idiot for cheating on Heidi, but Peter was the bigger idiot for following behind the lie. I really didn't want to break it to Heidi myself, so continued to stay quiet throughout the whole brunch.

I was more than relieved when Oliver left that afternoon. I don't know how much longer I could take his questions. I stormed up to Nathan the minute Heidi was away from him.

"I need to talk to you," I said.

"What about?" he asked.

"Your time in Las Vegas. I wasn't born yesterday, Nate."

Nathan looked around the room to make sure nobody else was in the room. "It…I didn't mean for it to happen."

"It doesn't matter if it meant it or not. You cheated on Heidi and you're having Peter in on your lie."

"He was only doing that for his own personal gain."

"And what did he want to gain from this?"

"A painting that Mr. Linderman has. He's still hooked on the whole 'I'm special' thing."

"Who can blame him," I bit my lip. "You're always the one stealing the spotlight."

Nathan placed his hands on my shoulders. "Look, I can't tell Heidi. I've already caused her enough pain. I don't need to break her heart."

"Too late for that. Peter may not have the heart to tell Heidi himself, but I do. If you don't tell her yourself, I will. You can lie to me, but you can't lie to her or Peter for matter."

"I'll tell her when the time is right. Things are just too tense right now."

I glared at him. "Things are tense for me, but I don't bury the truth like you."

"Just drop it, Danni. This between me and Heidi."

"And that blond you met in Las Vegas. What else did you do? Find a brunette or red head to please your needs?"

Nathan sighed. "You know, don't you?"

"I think I just clearly stated that you had a one night stand with a blond a few seconds ago."

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about when you got your concussion. You know what happened, don't you?"

I couldn't lie about it. If I had lied, then I would've become a hypocrite of my own morals.

"Bits and pieces," I said. "But I know I'm special like Peter says I am. I can fly too."

He took his hands off my shoulders and rubbed the temples on his forehead.

"I think I can do a whole lot more than fly though," I added. "I jumped over car before it could hit me…and when I sneezed a whole bunch of air came out. It was enough to knock me across the room."

"I told him to stay away from you."

"Excuse me?"

"I told Peter to stay away from you. You didn't believe him at the time, but it would be a matter of time when you did. I even took that book from you for God's sake."

I raised my voice high enough to show Nathan my anger. "You what?!"

"I had to. You would've come in with Peter today if I hadn't."

"And what's wrong with that? I was worried sick about him for the past couple weeks."

"He's not being careful and you can be the same way when you want to be."

I scoffed. "I have been more than careful for the past couple weeks."

"Did you happen to tell Cole of what you can do?"

"Yes, but he's not gonna tell anybody. He wouldn't."

"I'm not worried about him telling anybody. I'm worried about other people finding out." Nathan paused. "When I was in Las Vegas, a couple of guys took me away—well almost took me away. If I hadn't gotten away, I don't know what would've happened."

"How'd you get away?"

"I flew."

I smirked. "So you can fly."

"I think that's the reason why they were after me. Think about it for a moment. What we can do is not normal. Imagine what other people would think of us."

Nothing, but that thought constantly ventured in my head. Not that I was self-conscious or anything. The ability to do whatever I can do is not common.

"They'll think we're freaks," I muttered.

"Exactly and they'll lock us up."

"Or worse."

An image of me, Nathan, and Peter becoming lab rats came into my mind. I cringed at it.

"Just be careful who you trust, Danielle. Nothing's worse than getting stabbed in the back."

I had nothing to say to that surprisingly. Nathan was right. I couldn't go and pretend like nothing was off about me. I had to be careful. Cole was the exception to the whole trust thing. I couldn't let myself tell some complete stranger of what I could do. I couldn't even tell Ava whom I've known just as long as Cole. It wasn't fair, but it was a necessary evil.

Suddenly I remembered the day I jumped over the car. Two men were coming after me. One with horn rimmed glasses and another tall dark man. I had a feeling that they weren't done with me just yet. And with my luck, they just might be able to snatch me at any given moment.


	6. Be Prepared

Be Prepared

"Wow that was one crazy brunch."

I smirked at Cole. "Yeah and that's pretty much the Petrelli family all in one."

We sat in Cole's bedroom as I told him the events of the day before. He was quite excited to hear about it, actually. He even pushed me to get here by nine in the morning.

"I can't believe Nathan would just cheat on Heidi like that," said Cole, running a hand through his sandy blond hair. "Especially all of what they've been through."

"No kidding. It still sickens me. I bet that blond that he slept with wasn't even worth his time."

"I'm guessing you still don't know her name."

I shrugged. "It wouldn't matter if I knew her name. People like that don't have names, only labels."

"So what are you going to do?"

"About Nathan or keeping my secret?"

Cole sighed. "You already know which one I mean."

"I don't know. The way I see it is that we're already doing it. I've kept my secret to myself without one incident happening for the past couple weeks. If I keep this up, then maybe my powers have the chance of going away."

"Stuff like this never goes away. What if years later, you cause some kind of wind storm or something? How do you explain that to everyone?"

I quirked an eyebrow. "Do you think I can actually do that?"

"Hmm…I'm not sure. Your power is still unclear. But you kind of remind me of Aang from _Avatar: The Last Airbender._ He could fly, run fast, jump from place to place and basically control air. He was also light on feet, which explains why you're so good at dancing."

"Please," I said. "You're not seriously comparing me to a cartoon character?"

"It's the best bet I've got right now. I'm not very creative with names."

"As long as you don't start to call me the Air Maiden then I will be content."

My phone suddenly began to ring.

"Excuse me for a second."

I took the phone out of my pocket and answered it. "Hello?"

"Danni, it's me, Peter."

I nearly dropped the phone. Peter had left so fast yesterday that I had not been able to talk to him.

I smiled. "Hey, Peter. What's up?"

"I need to talk to you. Are you at the house now?"

"No. I'm at Cole's."

"Good. Have him take you to my apartment. You really need to hear what I'm about say."

I bit my lip. Something was wrong. I could sense it. "Okay, I'll take your word for it."

"Great, I'll see you soon."

Peter hung up before I could say goodbye myself.

"Well that was short and uncalled for," I muttered to myself.

"What did he say?" asked Cole.

"He said that he needed to talk to me. Can you give me a ride to his apartment?"

"I don't have a car, remember? But I think Jack can give us a ride there. He's heading out into the city anyway to deliver a couple of packages. I'm pretty sure he won't mind giving us a ride."

"Well let's go ask him before he goes then."

We rushed through the house looking for Jack. Thankfully we caught him just before he was about to walk out the door.

Cole was the first to approach him. "Jack, wait!"

Like his brother, Jack had dirty blond hair and blue eyes only he was a few feet taller, his hair was longer and he was a couple years older. He had currently been attending NYU for an Engineering degree.

Jack turned around. "Relax. I was just going to go into the city to drop something off a friend's house."

"We know, but Danni needs a ride to Peter's apartment."

"Can she just ask one of the drivers that the Petrellis have?"

I crossed my arms in frustration. "No. Nathan restricting me from seeing him so I have to sneak around to do it."

"Ah, an escape plan. I like it." Jack smiled. "Cole, you were always attracted to the rebellious ones."

"We're not dating for the last time," Cole groaned.

"How am I supposed to know that? You spend every second of every minute with each other and then you have endless phone calls."

"That still doesn't prove that we're dating."

"It's a possibility though."

"Could we forget about this for a second?" I snapped at the bickering brothers. "Peter's waiting for me at the apartment."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Fine, be boring. Let's get going."

Peter had not been the only one who had teased Cole and me of the possibility of being more than friends. I could've sworn Peter and Jack had long conversations on the phone about ways to taunt us into dating. I loved Cole, but it was more the brotherly love that I had for Peter. I could go to him whenever I had a problem and he wouldn't judge me whatsoever. He obviously felt the same way. The sad part is that Peter and Jack weren't the only ones who thought of this assumption. Even Ava, who you have yet to meet, has teased us a little bit of being together. When I had first met Ava and Cole, I thought they would be together but at times they can barely stand each other.

They bicker like crazy.

I guess I could say it's the same with me and one of Cole's friends, Dylan. He could be so arrogant at times. It's unbelievable. In freshman year, when he bragged about being the best dancer out there (so being as competitive as I am) I challenged him to try out for the dancing team with me. Whoever got in had the right to gloat. We both got in at the end.

You have no idea how frustrated I was at the situation.

Since then I've been working with him. There is not one practice that goes by that there isn't a bickering fight between us.

Anyway, with no help of Manhattan's horrible traffic, we had finally arrived at the apartment building. I began to unbuckle my seatbelt and open the car door.

"Do you need a ride back?" asked Jack.

I shook my head. "Nah. I'll catch a cab on the way home or even walk since it's faster in this city."

"OK then, say hi to your brother for me."

"Good luck," said Cole. "Just in case."

I got out of the car. "I'll call you when I get home."

After bidding my final farewell, I jogged inside the apartment building. Unlike most apartment buildings this one didn't have an elevator. I still ran believe it or not. But not fast enough to activate my power. If I could do anything with the air as Cole had said then I could run pretty fast. Of course his apartment had to be on the millionth floor.

By the time I got to Peter's apartment door, I was nearly out of breath. I anxiously rapped on the door two times.

The door swung open with Peter beaming at me. "Hey, Danni. Thanks for coming by at such short notice."

I entered the apartment as he moved to the side of the doorway. "No problem. It's kind of nice to talk to you again after a couple weeks of silence."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." He shut the door behind me. "Nathan told me not to have any contact with you unless I got myself together again, the morning after I punched him."

"I know he told me yesterday and I told him that I could fly too."

"I'm not sure what he was trying to accomplish, but I sure didn't like it."

"He's trying to keep that family image and a few freaks are sure to ruin it."

Peter sighed, obviously frustrated. "Yeah, well enough with Nathan for now. I have a few things I need to tell you."

I followed Peter into the living room. His apartment was not one of the biggest places on earth, but I still found a liking to it. It was just right for a man fresh out of college to live in. That much Nathan and even my foster father, Arthur failed to realize. I recalled both of them referring it as a shoebox compared to what they were used to. Unlike the Petrellis I was used to this sort of size. My mom and I lived in nothing but apartments when we moved from place to place. Peter was paying for it himself which had me admire him even more for not borrowing his family's immense amount of money.

I took a seat on the couch while Peter still paced the room. "You can start now, you know."

"I know. I'm trying figure out where to start though."

"Start where we left off. You can start out by saying, 'Previously on the Freaky Chronicles'."

He gave a confused look. "'The Freaky Chronicles'?"

I shrugged. "It was the best thing I can think of plus it kind of makes us freaks in what we can do. No insult intended."

"OK then. Since that last night we had a full conversation, I've been curious about my power. I went to Suresh to get answers."

"The author of the book?"

"Yeah. Nathan gave that back to me by the way if you want it. Anyway I didn't see Chandra Suresh, but I saw his son, Mohinder. Turns out Chandra died just recently."

"Well that's unfortunate," I muttered. "Was Mohinder any help?"

"Not really. He tried to approach Nathan that morning about his ability, but he obviously didn't get the results he wanted. By the time I came by he was already packing his bags. He was very skeptical about my power. I don't think I can just fly, Danni. When I'm around you or Nathan I can fly, but when I'm alone I can't do anything. I tried to explain that to him, but he still didn't believe me. So I decided to take him to Isaac Mendez's loft. The last time I had met him, I was drawing the future."

Great, if it wasn't flying it was drawing the future. What else could this insanity offer?

"I brought Mohinder to his loft," he continued. "But he wasn't there or he was high on heroin."

A thought occurred to me. "Wait; is this the same guy who writes 9th Wonders?"

"Yep."

It made so much sense. The author must've seen what was going to happen to me and published it without knowing it was supposed to happen. Maybe I should've listened to Cole's theory…

I sighed. "Okay, continue."

"So while we were on our way back from Isaac's loft, the subway suddenly stopped. The subway didn't just stop though, time did. A man named Hiro came to me and told me one thing: 'Save the cheerleader, save the world'. He told me to go back to Isaac since he had the answer to everything before leaving and returning things back to order. Once again, Mohinder didn't believe me and told me to go home.

"I went back to Isaac's that night to find the paintings he had completed. They went to together like comic, but there was one there unfinished. He didn't finish it when I was there though. I did. It was a man towering over a blond cheerleader. A dead blond cheerleader."

I stared at him with a blank expression. "How exactly are we saving the world if we save this one cheerleader?"

"I don't know. But I gotta save her. Even if the world didn't depend on it, I still would."

"Do you know who she is? Or where she is?"

"No. There was one painting missing from Isaac's collection. Simone sold it to Linderman who won't give it up."

"Well that's frustrating. What are you gonna do now?"

"Wait, I guess. What else is there to do?"

"Got a point there." I leaned back into the couch. "But why was it so important to tell me all of this? There's not much I can do about it."

"We're all connected in more ways than one, Danni. This information was bound to get to you sometime. Plus this involves you too." Peter sat in the couch across from me. "There was a painting Isaac did about you. I didn't know what it was about, but you were sleeping in a white room wearing grey sweatpants and a grey shirt."

"Wow. Nathan was right. I am going to get arrested someday."

"It didn't look like a jail cell though. But it seemed like you didn't mean to be there."

"OK, that's a little creepy considering I just heard Nathan almost being kidnapped."

"He told you that too?" he asked.

"Yeah and he said to be careful of who I trust."

"He basically said the same thing to me." He smiled. "It's about time he came to terms with what he could do."

"I wouldn't say he's come to terms with it, but he does have a clear understanding of it."

"You seem to be adjusting well to yours. Besides jumping over a car, what can you do?"

"Fly as high as I want to," I answered, "and apparently I can create air currents. Cole kind of compared me to Aang from _Avatar_."

"Wow. That's definitely far beyond what Nathan can do with his flying ability. Have you done any tricks yet?"

I shook my head. "Nothing new if that's what you're asking. I've kinda put my powers on lockdown after Cole and I tested them out."

"Why?"

"There's nothing I can do with it. Why should I even bother to use it if it's going to make my life more complicated?"

"You're still scared, aren't you?" he questioned.

"I'm not scared. I'm just a little bothered by this thing I have."

I didn't want to lie to Peter. Besides it wouldn't have led to any good anyway.

He looked at me curiously. "You make it sound like it's a virus."

"Maybe it is," I said bluntly. "I never wanted this to happen to me. I'm still at a loss of what I can do and it's just making things even more complicated than they already are."

"You're treating exactly like Nathan is, Danni. The only reason this is complicated is because you're making it complicated."

"Peter, I can assure you that I'm not making this complicated. It's obviously caused Nathan to separate us and put this poor girl in danger."

"Are you sure you're talking about yourself?"

I bit my lip. "I was counting everyone as a whole here."

"Look, I know you haven't fully accepted being special yet but if you ever need my help just let me know. I'll always be there for you."

Smirk climbed up on my lips. "I think I already figured out that by now."

Peter chuckled. "It doesn't matter what the situation is. You always keep that sarcasm."

"It's a habit."

"I remember when you first moved in with us. You were so quiet. Then I finally get the chance to talk to you at breakfast the next morning. Once I got a conversation started, you wouldn't stop talking as if you hadn't talked in weeks."

"It was sort of that way," I said as memories flashed through my mind. "I remember I stayed at a foster care for a week. I didn't say a word to anybody. They could barely get a word out me when I first met Arthur and Angela. That conversation with you changed me somehow. I felt a little more hopeful."

"Yet you're still in denial about your power."

"I said I was hopeful not optimistic. There's a difference between the two."

"That's what I don't get either. You see the world in a different way and can't wrap your mind around this yet."

I paused. "It's like grief, Peter. There are stages and I have a while until I get to the fifth stage."

"I'm not rushing you, if that's what you're thinking," he stated. "I only want you to open mind up a little more. Things aren't as bad as they seem."

I slowly nodded my head. "OK. _Me molesta tú a veces pero te quiero._"

Peter thought to himself for a moment before admitting, "I didn't understand a word of that."

It entertained me every time he attempted to understand my Spanish tongue. My mom had taught me how to speak Spanish since she was native speaker herself. She had told me that her father had moved from Mexico to the United States. You would never know my Spanish origins until I told you either in English or Spanish. I didn't have the tan completion that most Mexicans had. My mom didn't really either now that I thought about it. It was more of an olive tone. Mine on the other hand was a peach tone. My grandma was Italian so that must have contributed to my family's fading skin tones. My great-great grandchild would most likely be pale at this rate.

Anyway, enough with me. It's not like you needed to know that I was bilingual and I had Latino blood.

I grinned at Peter. "I said: you bother me sometimes, but I love you."

"Right back at you."

My eyes widened as I looked at the clock that hung from the wall ahead of me. "Wow, it's that late already?"

Peter looked back at the clock as well. "Yeah, it looks that way." He turned back to me. "Do you need a ride home?"

"No. I'll just take a taxi. Besides Angela would be the first to rat out this little meeting."

I got up from the couch heading towards the door.

"If you say so," he followed behind me. "I'll keep you updated on the cheerleader when I get new information. Simone's bound to get it back any day."

"I thought Linderman wasn't giving it up."

"I didn't say I was."

"Good point. I'll talk to you later."

"Same here and try not run into speeding cars."

"I'll resist the temptation."

I left Peter at that.

Just that little meeting made things all too clear for me now. Nathan, Peter and I weren't the only ones that had to live with this burden. Isaac Mendez and the cheerleader had to as well. Maybe Peter was right. I hadn't fully accepted on who I was. I didn't know how though. How do you automatically become adjusted to a change such as this?

You don't.

Time was what was needed here yet it seemed as if time was running thin. I could only hope that nothing could get worse than this.

I walked out to the front curb of the apartment building, waving at each yellow taxi that sped by. I swear I think it was five or more taxis that completely ignored my plea for a ride. The city bus was another option, but I would have to wait for a couple hours until it came back and it wouldn't even take me all the way back to the mansion. My eyes immediately caught on yet another taxi that appeared to be empty.

I held out my hand only for the car to speed past me as if I was one of those cheesy billboard signs.

"Dude! Are you for real?" I shouted incredulously to the cab driver.

Yes, I knew he couldn't hear me. When words come to my mind I have the instant urge to say them without a second thought. Maybe taking the bus would be faster than trying to catch a taxi. I turned to make my way towards the nearest bus stop. But my feet didn't move not one more step.

A dark familiar figure stood at the other side of the sidewalk staring intently at me. Memories of two weeks ago flashed into my mind. He was one of the reasons why I rushed into that speeding car. I resisted the impulse to freeze right on the spot. I was once again being hunted by the predator.

Trying to keep my calm composure, I turned my heel and began to walk in the opposite direction. I paced as fast as I could to get away. The bitter truth was that running alone wouldn't get me away from him. Flying would though. I knew that it would break my two week streak of not using my ability, but this was an emergency.

As I made it to the edge of the intersection, my body had collided with somebody else.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," I apologized almost immediately.

I froze.

The man I had bumped into smiled pleasantly at me. "It's quite all right. You seemed like you were in a rush anyway."

I vividly remembered this man from the same incident as the other man. His horned rimmed glasses still haunted my memories.

"Yeah. I gotta get home. Sorry again," I breathed.

"Let me give you a ride home. It's not safe to walk around here when it's dark."

I was officially crept out. I would've yelled "stranger danger" to everyone if shock hadn't claimed my voice.

"Hell no."

I didn't realize I had said those words before they escaped my lips. Now that I thought about it, I didn't really care what I said to this man. He knew I recognized him and he sure recognized me.

He continued to smile. "You don't have to be so rude about it."

"You and your friend don't have to stalk me," I spat.

"Why would you think we're doing that? This is only the second time I've seen you."

"How am I supposed to know that? Your friend was following the same pace as me the last time I saw him. I'm not stupid."

"You don't have to offend anybody, Danni. We can walk away without anyone else getting hurt."

My heart dropped. "How do you know my name?"

"A name isn't hard to learn. Neither is a special ability."

My whole heart stopped all together then. This man knew more than I even did.

I moved as far away as I could from him. "Get away from me."

"You don't have to be scared. We won't hurt you."

I tried to fly as I did weeks before. I jumped as high as I could, but nothing was working.

He gave a chestier grin. "You can't get away that way with my friend around."

At the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of the dark man creeping up behind me. He must've had an ability too. But I didn't have time to ask questions about it. A possible kidnapping was in progress.

My fist shot up to the man with the horn rimmed glasses. He winced down towards the ground clasping his nose.

I turned to run but the darkness invaded my eyes. I really should have just taken up Peter's offer for a ride.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! Sorry if this was a little uneventful in the middle, Danni needed to know the situation. Anyway, I know I'm leaving you at a cliff-hanger here, but don't expect the next chapter to come anytime soon. I have a huge essay to write and two tests for AP Gov to study for. But it will be out, I can tell you that. Please review and tell me your thoughts. Until next time,<p>

~Emyrox567


	7. White Walls

White Walls

I'm pretty sure more than half of you are bored to death with my story already. Don't lie. I can easily tell when you're lying. A lonely girl from New York gets super powers and then gets herself kidnapped. Pretty cliché, huh? For those who actually think this is worth listening to, then by all means continue, but I'm not responsible for what is about to happen. This is where I think my life took a drastic turn.

Everything was hazy when I opened my eyes again. The room around me was cold and the bright luminance bouncing off the walls glared into my eyes. The setting didn't seem the least bit familiar to me. Memories suddenly came flashing in my mind of the events before. A strange man approached me…offered me a ride…I punched him in the nose…and then darkness. My eyes snapped open as soon as I realized the situation. But I regretted doing so when white blinding lights gleamed into my eyes. I sat up, rubbing my eyes until I felt that they were adjusted.

The setting around me put an alarm into my system. I was in a bright room with dirty white walls, a sink, and a toilet off to the side. It was a jail cell it seemed like, but what had I done wrong? There was not one memory in my brain of committing some sort of crime and being caught for it. My clothes had not been the same as I had remembered them either. A grey shirt and a pair of grey sweat pants rested on my body without my consent. Panic began to spread throughout my body. Where was I?

A familiar voice echoed throughout the room. "It's good to see you're awake, Ms. Petrelli."

My eyes glanced up to the front of the room where the same man in the horn rimmed glasses stood staring at me through the glass window. "Where am I?"

"You're safe," he assured. "No one is here to hurt you."

I glared at him. "Then why did you kidnap me?"

"It was necessary. We can't let something like this get out in the open."

"Like what?"

"You of all people should know," he smiled. "You recently received a gift that needs to be used wisely."

He knew. Shivers ran up and down my spine of that fact. I was here because of what I was. Nathan could've been in the same place. It wasn't a matter of trusting anybody, but not being alone in a dark alley somewhere.

"What are you talking about?" I tried to act dumb about the situation. It was done poorly, I admit, but it was worth a try.

This man wasn't easily fooled obviously. "Don't try that game with me, Danni. I know just about everything about you. You were adopted at age twelve, your mother died in a car accident, and I saw you jump over that car two weeks ago."

"Who are you? What do you want from me?"

"My name is Bennet, but you can call me Mr. Bennet. We only want to make sure that your power is safe enough to go out into society."

"And I'm stuck here if it's not."

Bennet ignored my accusation. "You will be here for a couple of days or so and if things are successful you will be returned home."

"Won't people notice I'm gone?"

"According to them, you're off at a dance camp in Virginia."

They sure did know who I was. I would go to a dance camp if I had the chance, but I would tell Cole and Peter firsthand. They would at least notice something was off.

"Why am I here?" I asked once more.

"You're here so that we can study your ability. Think of it as a way to understand your power as well."

"OK, I can fly. Can I go now?"

"It doesn't work that way, sorry." He glanced at his watch. "Looks like it's time for questioning. Don't even try anything to escape." Bennet looked to the dark man who appeared next to him. "Your powers are of no use in front of my friend here."

I smirked. "How's the nose?"

It was now I noticed a bandage over the bridge of his nose. Good, he deserved it.

"Swollen," he said, heading towards the door. "But I'm expected to make a full recovery."

"If your people do anything else to me besides what you say, then you can forget about that nose coming back."

Bennet didn't answer to that. The door swung open instead. "Follow me."

I looked at him questioningly. "What? No handcuffs?"

"We don't need handcuffs to keep you here."

I no longer felt the need to argue with the man. He seemed to have a counter argument to everything. I got up from the hard bed and followed him out of the cell.

Both Bennet and the dark ominous man stood beside me. Bennet was right about one thing: they didn't need handcuffs to keep me here. Guards surrounded the place and men in suits ventured around the brightly lit halls. This must've been some sort of conspiracy or something. I was not the only one to go through this obviously. I saw a little boy pass by me in the same attire as I was and guided by a woman in a suit. I was still scared to find out what these men planned to do with me as they have done to countless others.

A tan man approached us. "Ah, Bennet. I see you finally got a hold of the Petrelli girl."

"It wasn't easy, I can guarantee you that," Bennet responded with humor in his tone.

"And what made you think it was gonna be easy?" I asked both of them coldly.

The tan man smiled at me. "I've heard plenty of things about you, Danni. You jumped over a car when my men last tried to take you in."

"You're in charge?"

"Yes and I can assure you that we won't hurt you as long as you don't try to hurt us."

"No promises."

Bennet interrupted before things got out of hand. "Well this is our room, Eric. I'll question her and we'll test her powers."

The man I presumed to be Eric walked away. "Keep me updated until then, Bennet."

I continued to glare at the man. There was something eerie about him. Somehow my instincts were telling me that Eric was untrustworthy. More untrustworthy than Bennet actually. Granted, I didn't trust any of them but I still held that hope that I would come home.

Bennet led me into the room next to us. I was seated in a chair at an aluminum table just below a lamp light.

Bennet sat across from the table. "Is there something I can get you? Coffee?"

I shook my head. "No. Let's just get this over with."

"If you say so."

The dark man whom I still did not know his name handed Bennet a clipboard and a pen.

Bennet looked at the clipboard thoughtfully. "What's your name?"

I stared at him with a blank expression. "You're not serious, are you? You've been calling me by name ever since I got here."

He waved off my comment. "Full name please."

This reminded me more and more of sharing a house with Angela Petrelli. She would usually ignore whatever I said.

Whatever, I gave up. "Danielle Valerie Petrelli."

"Thank you. Age?"

"Sixteen."

"Date that you were born."

"April 24, 1990."

Bennet scribbled down the information given to him. "Your mother and father's names."

"Linda Santiago and I don't know who my father is."

"Your mother never told you?"

I bit my lip. "She never really talked about him. Plus if she was ever going to tell me, it's too late. She died in a car accident when I was twelve."

"I know."

My fist pounded on the table. "Then why are you asking me all of these questions? You already know everything about me."

"You're right. Let's go straight to your ability. I was only testing if you could tell the truth."

"I can tell the truth, but just warn you, I have the tendency to say things I really don't mean."

"Sarcasm, you mean?"

I nodded. "I'm just giving you a fair warning."

"OK, what else have you been able to do besides jumping over speeding cars?"

"I can fly, jump to very high places and I can create gusts of wind, I think. I haven't really tested it out yet."

"Hm, air manipulation," he said thoughtfully. "I haven't seen any of those yet."

"What exactly can I do?"

"You manipulate the air from my understanding. I personally haven't seen someone like you, but my associates tell me that you can do anything the air can. As you said: flight, creation of gusts of wind, and speed as well. Not to mention, it makes you a little lighter on your feet which explains why you were able to jump over that car."

Now that I had heard Bennet's explicit explanation, the name, The Air Maiden seemed to fit well with me. That still didn't mean that I wanted to be called that of course.

"So is that it for the questioning?" I asked.

"Yes. Now we need to know if you have full control of your powers."

"So you want me to fly out of this place…okay that could work."

He briefly shook his head. "No, not that way. We're going to go in another room and you're going to show me a couple things."

"Like a dog."

"This would be a lot easier if you weren't so stubborn."

"This would be a lot easier if you would've never taken me in the first place," I quipped.

Bennet leaned over to me, his eyes blaring into mine. "I'm being serious here. If you don't listen to me, they'll just hand you over to someone much more persuasive. All I'm asking is that you listen to me and you'll be able to go home to your family."

"What family? If you knew so much about me then you would know that I'm just a fly on the wall to my foster mother and foster brother. The only reason my foster brother has taken interest in me is because he wants to keep a clean image for his campaign. Once he gets what he wants and the cameras go away, he'll go back to ignoring me and I'll go back to returning the ignorance."

"You make it sound like you don't want to go back."

"I do. My life isn't completely depressing, you know. I have another foster brother that I actually consider to be my brother and I have a good friend who never judges me no matter how far I fall. As for the rest, I can just deal with it for the next year and a half."

Bennet rose from his seat. "In that case then, follow me."

I did as he said and followed him out the door with the dark man tagging behind.

I was surprised I hadn't even tried to get away. The only vibe I was getting from this place was uncertainty. The people in the suits that I passed by stared at me as if I was someone that didn't belong. I couldn't exactly classify their expressions as a glare, but they most certainly weren't friendly smiles. What shocked me even more was that I trusted Bennet to do as he said. Trust is a big word, I know. Maybe I didn't trust him enough with my life, but I was assured that he would take me back to New York as soon as he was done with me. The way he stated firmly that there were worse people than him made me a _tad_ more comfortable than I did before. OK, maybe I restated that wrong. I felt grateful that he was the one who had taken me instead of that Eric guy. That probably doesn't sound right either, but I'd like to see you try to put a brighter side in this situation.

Anyway, Bennet led me to another room in the building. This room was much bigger than the one we were in before. It was an indoor gymnasium in fact. Well apart from the difference that there were no bright decorations around. Just blinding white walls with a viewing window above. The mats and the balance beams were the only things that were normal in this place.

I turned to Bennet. "So what is it that you wanted me to do?"

"I want you to fly a few feet off the ground, but first my friend needs to wait outside."

The dark man gave a short nod towards Bennet before leaving the room.

I couldn't help, but ask, "Is he like me? Different, I mean."

"Yes," Bennet answered. "He has the ability to stop other people like you from using their ability."

"So he's like an off switch for us."

"That's one way to put it. Now I want you to fly a couple feet above the ground."

Taking a couple steps back from him, I thought back to two weeks ago when I had last used my power. I knew giving in was the last thing to do when you're in a hostage situation but Bennet had told me that there were worse people and I believed him for the most part. Without putting one thought into it I slowly levitated off the ground. I'll admit, my stomach still did summersaults whenever I used my power.

"Very good," Bennet scribbled something on his clipboard. I tried to sneak a peek at it, but he had pulled it away when he realized my intentions. "Now get back to the ground and run to that side of the room."

I did exactly as he said. Once my feet were back to the ground I sprinted across the room. Bennet didn't seem to be pleased with what I had done.

"Use your ability," he said.

"Oh, right," I answered dumbly.

I hadn't used my power through running yet so this would be a new challenge. _Maybe, it's just like it was with flying. Don't think, just run, _I mused to myself. It was worth a try. I sprinted into another run, but this time it was different. The wind whipped around my ears as the air hit my face. It short lived though. I found myself standing next to Bennet within an instant.

"That was weird," I commented.

"That was impressive. Next I want you to go on that high bar over there and swing your body up so that you're doing a full hand stand."

"Is there anything productive that's gonna come out of this?"

"You learn more about your powers and we learn what you're capable of."

"You already know what I'm capable of obviously," I said. "Why am I still here?"

"It's only precaution."

"Yeah and I'm pretty sure you told your friend that too."

Bennet's expression didn't faze at all at my remark. I didn't care though. I was going to let my concerns out whether he liked it or not.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" I questioned him. "It's not that hard to figure out I'm not the only one with a case like mine. How many of those people do you return home? Did you kidnap that man that was with us? Did you tell him the same things you told me? What kind of conspiracy is this?"

"That's quite a mouthful of questions you have there," he said. "We didn't force the Haitian to join us if that's what you're thinking. We give everyone a choice whether they want to help us or not. If they are able to behave well in society with the gifts they have, then we bring them back home."

I shook my head. "It still doesn't answer my first question on how I know you're telling the truth or not."

"You can trust me, Danni. I have a daughter of my own at home around your age. I won't do anything to hurt you just as I wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

"Tell me something then, would you do this to your daughter?"

Bennet's face suddenly softened. Neither of us said a word. Had I struck a nerve into the hard man? For the record, it wasn't my intention. I was only trying to make a point. He continued to look at me thoughtfully making me feel discomfort.

"We're done here," he finally said. "I'll take you back to your cell and you'll be home by tomorrow."

I lied in my rock hard bed staring at the spotty ceiling above me. Bennet had taken me back to my cell earlier and I had been in the same position he had left me. In some ways I was glad to be away from him. Our walk on the way over to my cell was in complete silence. You had no idea how awkward that was after our last conversation. I began to regret involving his daughter in the conversation. At least it got me out of a few exercises.

The cell door wobbled open. Maybe I spoke too soon.

I looked up not to find Bennet, but his dark friend he called the Haitian come in. Behind him was Eric, smirking at me.

"Ms. Petrelli, you are quite a stubborn girl," he said to me. "Bennet told me you convinced him to let you out of the exercise. I can understand that point somewhat considering we already tested someone else with air manipulation awhile back, but I did see the tapes of the tricks that you did do. It was very impressive."

I sat up in my bed. "What exactly are you getting at here?"

"I want you to join our staff here at the Company."

"What?"

"You have a few qualities that we like and that can be useful."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This man was offering me a job which I barely knew anything about besides kidnapping.

"I'm sixteen," I stated bluntly.

"Believe it or not people younger than you have worked at here. Granted they hardly went out in the field, but they worked from the inside."

"I am still upset that you people took me without my consent and you expect me to accept anything from you."

"I understand that you're still a little rattled about what happened, but this is an opportunity to help people."

I snorted. "Help people? Yeah kidnapping people _really_ helps them."

"So is that a no?"

"You can count on that."

"I'll give you time to think it over. It looks like you have a few things to straighten out besides your ability. But we will be back, Ms. Petrelli when you finally get things together."

"So you're just going to randomly kidnap me again?"

"If it were up to me, you would be rotting in this cell but Bennet believes that you should be sent home as promised. So that's exactly what we're going to do."

Eric gestured towards the Haitian. "Wipe anything that happened today and her kidnapping."

The Haitian nodded, walking towards me. I cringed as he held out his hand towards me.

"Hey! What's your sick game here?" I yelled at them.

No one answered me. The Haitian's hand slowly glided towards my forehead. The men in front of me and the white surroundings soon began to fade into nothing.

* * *

><p>One more chapter until Homecoming! Sorry, I thought I would just throw that out there. Thanks for reading! Review and tell me your thoughts so far! Follow me on Twitter for updates!<p>

~Emyrox567


	8. Five Minutes to Midnight

Five Minutes to Midnight

The warm light prickled on my cheeks and peeked through my eyelids. I wanted to open my eyes, but exhaustion thought otherwise. My mind tried to stay in my subconscious as much as it could. Fighting the urge to continue with this slumber, my eyes fluttered open to face the blinding sunlight ahead. I winced slightly at it and rubbed my eyes.

A serene voice came beside me. "I see you're finally awake."

Once my eyes were finally adjusted I saw the smooth white ceiling of my room. I turned my head to the find the voice was Angela.

"How long was I out?" I almost moaned.

"All night and half of today. You went straight to bed right after camp."

I sat up on my bed. "Camp?"

"Yes," she gave a small smile. "You went to a dance camp in Virginia, remember?"

I tried to recollect any memories of any dance camp, but none came to mind.

"When did I go to a dance camp or even want to go to a dance camp?" I asked her.

"You went to camp a few days ago. You've been there all week, Danielle."

Again, I tried to remember anything that I had done that past week and again, there was nothing. Wait, nothing? I didn't even remember being at school. My heart quickened its pace.

A distant doorbell rang, pulling me away from my thoughts.

"You still must be exhausted. I'll go get the door while you rest some more."

I didn't reply to Angela as she walked out the room.

My mind raced to find answers. It was as if I had disappeared for a whole week and my memories had been lost forever. I thought of what I did remember: _I'm Danielle  
>Petrelli. I'm sixteen years old. I'm a junior at Manhattan High School. My best friends are Cole Bowman and Ava Shah. I hate pickles when they are alone. I like dipping French fries into chocolate shakes because I think it's interesting when the salty and sweet tastes collide. Dancing is my passion and track is the most horrible sport known to man. <em>

I could remember everything else that came after that. A few days ago, on the other hand was a challenge. I remembered walking home from Peter's apartment but nothing after that. I tried to move forward past that memory but I all there seemed to be as a dark black wall. Had I been kidnapped? No. I had been brought back home and Angela herself had said that I had gone to camp. Maybe I went to camp for a couple days and someone decided to take me. Again that raised the question of why I was back at the Petrelli Mansion. I didn't care how I was unable to remember such easy information, but I wanted to know why.

"Danielle Petrelli, what in the world were you thinking?"

I pulled away from my thoughts when I realized that Cole had stormed into my room.

It wasn't that hard to figure out I was caught off guard. "What was I thinking?"

Cole looked at me with disbelief. "You didn't tell me you were going to a dance camp or even applied to one for that matter. I was beginning to think you were kidnapped by those people Nathan talked about and I know you don't do well as a test subject. You never listen."

Something triggered inside my brain causing my ears to be alert. "Say that again."

"You never listen?"

"No, before that."

"You mean the part where I thought you were kidnapped by those people Nathan talked about?"

It all made sense now. People coming out of the shadows to take freaks like me away. But why would they bring me home if they still needed a test subject?

Concern suddenly filled Cole's expression. "You don't look so good, Danni. Are you okay?"

"I don't know. I didn't tell you about camp because I wasn't even on planning on going to camp."

"Then where were you for the past few days?"

I shook my head. "I don't remember. I was walking from Peter's apartment and then nothing. The next thing I know I'm waking up here in my bed with no memory of what happened."

"Did you ever hit your head anywhere? Maybe it's your concussion acting up again."

"If it was I wouldn't even remember."

"Have you tried to remember what happened yourself?"

"I have been ever since I woke up, but it's like someone made sure I couldn't access them."

"I'm pretty sure this isn't as bad as it sounds—" Cole looked curiously at me. "What's that?"

"What's what?"

"On your neck, there's some kind of mark."

I jumped off my bed and charged towards the small mirror on my dresser. After pulling my hair into a pony tail, I saw what truly rested on my neck. I could've screamed if my voice hadn't been lost at that moment. Two thin black centimeter lines rested parallel of each other on my neck. I knew for a fact that the mark wasn't there before I had lost consciousness. I tried to rub it off, but nothing changed. It didn't hurt nor did it feel anything worth refreshing. It was just there. I would have never known it was there if Cole hadn't pointed it out.

Now I knew it was crucial for me to remember what had happened to me. They could've pulled out one of my kidneys without my knowledge for crying out loud! I was sure those same people who tried to take Nathan succeeded in abducting me.

"Does it hurt?" Cole asked.

I let my hair fall to my shoulders covering the mark. "No. It's just there."

"What do you think it is?"

"Probably some marker like what scientists use to track animals." I attempted to keep the venom off my tongue, but it was already difficult enough to stay calm in this situation.

"If you didn't go to camp, how would Angela be buying into this?"

"Maybe they brainwashed her too. Or considering that she doesn't know much of my social life, she automatically believed the people bringing me back home."

"I highly doubt even a person like Angela would do that."

"Even if she didn't, that still doesn't pull away from the fact that if I wasn't who I was, I would have been at school for the past few days with my memories. I'm obviously not the first or last person to have this happen to them. The author of _9__th__ Wonders_ is able to paint the future, Cole. He could be next."

It was incredible how Cole continued to keep his calm composure unlike me. "Things aren't as bad as they seem, Danni. They didn't hurt you. The only mark that came out was the one on your neck. I'm not saying what they did was right necessarily, but they're not hurting people either."

"I can't remember a thing, Cole. Did you think about that?"

"That, I admit, is a little creepy. But what can we do about it? Since you don't remember anything I highly doubt you know where they took you."

"And reporting this to the police won't make a difference," I muttered. "Maybe we should just forget this ever happened and move on."

"I don't think I can ever forget you being missing for days without you telling me where you are. I'll move on, but I won't forget. If they had hurt you, I don't know if I would be able to forgive myself."

I looked at him questionably until I realized that Cole was the one to convince his brother to give me a ride to Peter's apartment.

"This isn't your fault, Cole," I said clearly to him. "It was me who decided to go alone. Neither of us knew what was going to happen."

"But we could've." Cole pulled out the _9__th__ Wonders_ issue with me as the subject. "We should've read this and saw this coming from the beginning. I don't this was just some coincidence that I decided to give this to you."

"Are you seriously going to go into the whole 'it's all a part of destiny' thing?"

"I'm not trying to, but I don't think Isaac Mendez decided to write this comic book out of random."

"It's not just me he's painting about Cole. He's been painting Peter and this cheerleader who going to be killed by this guy soon."

"Wait, hold up there. What cheerleader?"

My eyes became wide. "I have to call Peter. Maybe he knows what happened."

I dove for my phone in my jean pocket.

"What cheerleader are you talking about here?" he persisted.

I dialed Peter's phone number. "Isaac painted a cheerleader being murdered and before that Peter got a message from a time traveler saying he had to save the cheerleader to save the world."

"Save the world?"

"I know and just when I thought this couldn't sound any crazier."

"This is amazing!" he nearly exclaimed. "You're actually gonna be a hero."

I pressed the phone to my ear. "Woah! Don't jump to that conclusion yet, Buddy. I may turn on everybody if the other side has cookies."

"Don't you see, Danni? This is the opportunity to use your powers to help people. Isaac already has and Peter is working to use his."

"That still doesn't mean I want to use mine," I smirked.

"You can fly and do so much more! You can take that cheerleader out of there before that guy gets a hold of her."

"That sounds fine and dandy, but we still don't know where she is."

Cole's smile vanished. "You don't know where she is?"

I shrugged. "It's a painting not MapQuest."

"Hello?" Peter's voice came from the other side of the line.

I shushed Cole before he could say anything else. "Hey Peter, it's me, Danni."

"Great, just the person I wanted to talk to. I have something I need to tell you."

"So do I, but I have a feeling your information is much more important."

"I found her—the cheerleader."

My heart dropped in shock. "You did? Where is she?"

"She goes to Union Wells High School in Odessa, Texas. They're having homecoming tonight and that's when it's going to happen."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He actually succeeded in finding the cheerleader.

"So where are you now? Are you heading over there now?"

"Yeah," said Peter. "But I want you to come along."

"Me?"

"I'm useless without anyone around me. I could use you for back-up."

"I don't know…"

"What is it?" Cole asked.

"He found the cheerleader and he wants me to come with him," I whispered to Cole.

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"Hold that thought, Pete," I pressed the phone to my shoulder. "I figured this was just Peter's mission so I thought I'd stick around and keep an eye on things."

Cole crossed his arms in disapproval. "And wait for my goldfish to jump through a hoop?"

"Hey, I wasn't the one who held a plastic ring over my fish tank trying to get my goldfish to perform like Shamu."

"I was thirteen and my parents wouldn't let me have dog!"

"What a lonely thirteen year old boy you were…" I teased.

"Forget about the fish incident and concentrate on the point here. You need to go with Peter. He needs your help."

"Even if I decided to go, what would I do?"

I wanted to help Peter. All he had to do was say the word and I would be there, but this was more than a simple plea for help. There was a potential murder involved. Not to mention this was discovered by a man who could paint the future. If I had gone to the police about this, they would've laughed straight in my face. No, they would've looked at me blankly like I was crazy (which is worse). The laughing would've begun if I added that I could fly.

Besides, what _would_ I be able to do? I could fly sure, but how would that help? I knew there was much more that I could do yet I didn't even know half of what I had.

Cole sighed. "Peter has done more than enough for you. He took care of you when nobody else wouldn't, he helped you discover your ability and he's only asking for this one favor from you. So even if you just stand there as Peter is being the hero, he'll appreciate it."

He was right. God, I hated it every time he made me go soft.

I groaned. "Fine, I'll go…but you're coming with me."

"What?"

"If I'm getting dragged into this because of you, you're coming down with me."

Cole grinned. "Awesome!"

Rolling my eyes, I pressed the phone back to my ear. "I'm in."

Peter made no effort to hide his shock. "You are?"

"Yep, you can thank Cole for that."

"I sure will. Listen, why don't you meet me at the airport and we'll fly over to Odessa?"

"By fly, do you mean the plane or the other thing?"

"The plane. Geez, I'm not completely delusional."

"Good," I let out a sigh of relief. "Make sure you get a ticket for Cole too. He'll be joining us for the field trip."

"No problem. Meet me at the airport by five. I'll see you there."

"Yeah, see you too."

I hung up the phone. "What just happened?"

"We're going on a life-saving mission," Cole grinned at me.

As if that didn't put enough pressure on me.

"Life-saving…great."

Cole's grin soon faded into a frown. "I just realized something. Angela's not gonna let you out the door."

My heart stopped. "What?"

"She said that you needed your rest and it was important that you stayed inside."

"Now that woman decides to act like a mother!" I groaned. "Of all times!"

"Let's not freak out here," Cole tried to soothe. "There's gotta be another solution here."

I looked towards the window. An idea came to mind, but I was still hesitant.

"The window," I said mindlessly.

Cole looked at me with disbelief once again. He knew exactly where I was getting at. I was surprised myself that I had even suggested it.

"You said this was a chance to use my powers, Cole. Let's start with our escape from this prison cell."

"Can you even carry me all the way to the airport?"

I shrugged. "I did it before. If I'm fast enough, I won't have to carry you for that long."

"Let's hope so. With traffic today, we'll be there by ten."

"I better pack up then."

I quickly grabbed my messenger bag from under my bed. I stuffed it with whatever I thought was necessary at the time: my cell phone, driver's license, any money I had left in my wallet, and my iPod (what? I needed my power music). After I slung my bag over my shoulder, I went to open my window.

"Okay, Cole, you're gonna have to hold onto me until I say so," I told him.

"No problem, I don't want to become a human pancake."

I slid the window up to its highest point before stepping on the window sill. "Let's get going now. We don't want to keep Peter waiting."

I slowly stood up on the window sill, leaning against the side for support. Cole soon joined by my side creating less space between us.

I held out my arms to him. "Hug me now."

He gave me an odd look until he realized what I really meant. Cole wrapped his arms around me like he usually would to hug me. I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"It's okay, Danni," he whispered into my ear. "I'm here."

All of the sudden, my worries disappeared. Being in Cole's presence made me forget about my concerns about the lack of knowledge I had for my power. Taking in one deep breath, I began to levitate off the window sill. I soon flew higher into the sky, accelerating as I did so. The wind whipped around my hair and into my eyes.

Surprisingly, Cole's weight didn't affect me as much as I thought it would. We were above the clouds and not once so far did I have the desire to let him go. I was shocked that I was able to speed up like that. I had no idea how fast I was going, but it felt peaceful up here. No distractions. No bustling crowds, loud traffic, and bicyclists cutting me off on the side walk (you have no idea how many times that's happened to me). A triangle of geese flew below us. Not once in my life I had ever thought to fly without the aid of a plane as these birds did. From the distance I saw a plane emerge from the clouds.

"That was fast," I said. "The airport must be a few blocks away now."

"Well you are going pretty fast up here," Cole said as if it were obvious. "I think I might've swallowed a fly already."

"In that case, I'm gonna start to land so brace yourself."

I quickly inclined my body down towards the clouds. That's when I felt gravity overtaking me. We seemed to be traveling faster than we did going up. The city came into view once again. I glided into an alley way between two large buildings. As I got closer to the ground, I repositioned myself so that my feet were the ones facing the ground. I wanted to stop as soon as my feet were rubbing against the pavement, but my power didn't think so. A whip of air still pushed us until my legs caught onto an empty trashcan causing Cole and I to collapse on the ground.

My heart continued to pound. "Well that was attractive."

Cole sat up. "It's a work in progress. Besides you beat the city bus by long shot. How fast did you think you were going?"

"I don't know." I aimlessly stared at the cloudy sky above me. "I knew I was going faster, but I didn't feel any different."

"C'mon, Peter's waiting for us." Cole jumped up to his feet and held out his hand to me.

I took it. "Here goes nothing."

"Think of it a new turn in your life. This is the most exciting thing that's happened to you in your life."

"And the strangest."

Cole thought for a moment before pulling me up. "That I might have to agree on."

We walked out of the alley way and headed to the airport ahead.

* * *

><p>Sorry about the late update and the short chapter. The next chapter is Homecoming so hold on to that until then. Thanks for reading and tell me your thoughts!<p>

~Emyrox567


	9. Homecoming

Homecoming

Cole and I met Peter at the airport as promised. Our meeting was short lived since our flight was due to leave soon. The airport was packed as usual. Luckily I didn't have any luggage to give away to cost us even more time. All I had was my messenger bag. Once we passed security, we wasted no time in boarding our seats. We sat ourselves in an empty row of seats, leaving me to be in the middle of Peter and Cole.

"So what's the plan once we get there?" I asked Peter.

He had to have a plan if we already made it this far.

Much to my relief he did. "We're going to stop at the Burnt Toast Diner in Odessa first to meet Hiro and his friend, Ando. Once we get them to come along, we'll head over to Union Wells High School."

"Sounds like a plan to me, but what about the guy who is going to kill this cheerleader? How are we going to deal with him?"

"I'll be the one to deal with him," he said quickly. "I just want you to worry about getting the cheerleader out of there, if necessary."

I narrowed my eyes at his sudden protectiveness. Why would he decide now of all times to put me on the sidelines?

Before I could ask the question though, Cole interrupted me. "Who do you think is out to this? I mean what did the cheerleader to him?"

Peter shook his head. "I don't know. There was only a dark figure in the painting. But the top of her head was open. It doesn't look like a normal killing."

"And what killing do you think would be normal?" I questioned, slightly joking.

"A few stabbings or gunshot wound, I guess. All I know is that this isn't just out of random. There has to be a reason why he's going after her and why she's somehow the key to saving the world."

"Hopefully there's a method to this madness."

"I'll say, but it does give me something to do before I start working again." He paused before speaking again. "Danni, on the phone before, you said that you had something to tell me too. What was it?"

I thought for a moment about what he was talking about then I remembered my initial intent on calling him: I was about to report my kidnapping. I bit my lip. Maybe this wasn't the best time to mention that. As of now, the situation was very delicate. We were under a time constraint and one screw-up could end the life of the cheerleader. Peter had better things to do than to be concerned about me. Besides I wasn't mortally wounded from the situation, so it didn't seem like a big issue next to the whole "save the cheerleader, save the world" thing. Not to mention he was holding something back. If he wasn't going to say anything about his issue, I wasn't going to say anything about mine.

"I went to a dance camp in Virginia," I told him. "I got the acceptance letter after I left your apartment and forgot to call you about it."

Peter beamed at me. "That's great. At least you got to relax for a few days."

I gave him a weak smile. "You could say that."

I was completely silent after that. I hated lying to him. I hated lying in general. It made me feel dirty and many other negative adjectives I'd rather not mention. But there was no need to worry Peter any further. The world was more important than I was. I dozed off thirty minutes into the flight while Cole and Peter exchanged a conversation I was paying no attention to.

I woke up again to Cole and Peter's voices, shaking me awake. We had arrived in Odessa. I tried to keep my calm composure as we walked out of the plane. We were only a mile or two away from saving a life or proving that we were on a wild goose chase.

It was already dark out when we came out the airport. I looked at the time at my cell phone to find that it was about seven. Homecoming was very similar, but yet it was different in every high school. The game would most likely start close to seven-thirty or eight. The killer would most likely strike when no one is around. I wasn't exactly a genius, but I could tell that he didn't want to be anywhere near large crowds.

We hitched a ride on a taxi. As the ride went on, I noticed Peter looked even more agitated than I felt at that moment. I could understand though. The time traveler told Peter specifically that he had to save the cheerleader. I was just an add-on. Peter sprung from his seat as soon as the taxi stopped at the Burnt Toast Diner. Cole and I followed behind.

The Burnt Toast Diner seemed to be a quaint café through the window. There were people enjoying their coffee and couples eating dinner together. Quite the opposite of New York. I've had to push through people to get a simple hot dog. When we came out of the taxi, a man standing outside the diner looking at a newspaper seemed to catch Peter's eyes.

Peter walked up to him. "Ando?"

The man turned around to face him. He had well-kept black hair and narrow eyes.

Peter shook his hand as Cole and I approached him as well. "Hey, I'm Peter Petrelli and this is my sister, Danni and her friend, Cole. How are you? I'm so sorry it took forever. I couldn't get a flight and the taxis in this town…We still have time. Where's Hiro?"

Ando didn't say anything. Instead he brought us inside the diner to a collage of pictures. So far, I didn't like where this field trip was going.

Ando pulled off a picture of a woman with red-hair and a man standing next to her, smiling awkwardly at the camera. It seemed to be a birthday party for her.

"Hiro traveled back in time to rescue Charlie," he said. "I told him it wasn't a good idea. Peter Petrelli might call, but he insisted."

Peter looked at the picture. "What happened to her?"

"She was killed."

That hit me right there. The killer must've been closer than I thought.

Ando pointed to a booth. "We were sitting right here. It happened so fast. Next thing we know, she was dead and the killer was gone in a flash like Okage."

"Who?" Peter and I both asked in unison.

"Boogeyman."

I nodded my head. "Got it."

"Hiro said maybe it's the same man who's going to attack the cheerleader," Ando continued. "I told Hiro a do-over is too risky. But Hiro says a man who is too afraid to use his power does not deserve to have power."

"That doesn't remind me of anyone," Cole muttered sarcastically.

I nudged him. "I'm a girl, not a man."

Ignoring our small dispute, Peter pulled a picture from his pocket. "I know when and I know where the cheerleader gets attacked. I have to stop him."

Ando's expression changed dramatically as he looked at the picture Peter handed him. "Is this you?"

"Maybe."

I took the picture from Ando's hands. My heart stopped when I saw the image: a man lying on the ground in a pool of blood under the sign "Homecoming" and a clock that read eight-twelve. That's not the scary part though. This man had a distinct resemblance to Peter.

"Is this what you were hiding from me?" I looked at him in disbelief.

"I didn't want to worry you." It was amazing how Peter had stayed this calm the whole time.

I didn't say anything to that. Peter's exact words were the reason why I hadn't told him of my recent predicament.

"You have a power, right?" Ando asked.

Peter paused. "Sort of."

"Super strength. You bend time and space like Hiro?"

"No, I…I kind of absorb the abilities of others, but only when they're close."

He seemed to be confused at the claim. "Hmm?"

"Truthfully, I…When I'm by myself I don't…I'm not really anything."

Ando faced me with a hint of hope in his eyes. "What about you? Are you special?"

"I wouldn't really call it that," I said.

"What can you do?"

Cole answered when I took too long of a pause. "She can manipulate the air. You know, she can fly, jump to high places and run fast if she wanted to."

"But I don't know if I can do all that yet," I told Ando honestly. "I really don't know a whole lot about my power."

Ando exchanged worried looks with both Peter and I.

"I've got less than an hour," said Peter, breaking the silence. "It happens at eight-twelve. I have to go." Peter headed towards the door. "You coming?"

I wasn't sure who he was referring to, but I answered anyway. "Don't even ask that, Pete. If anyone is going to prevent you from dying, it's going to be me."

"And I'm there with you too, man," Cole agreed.

"No," said Ando after a moment of hesitation. "I will wait for Hiro. Without him I'm not really anything either. Maybe you should wait too."

"There's no time." Peter swiped the picture of the painting from Ando. "I have to save the cheerleader."

Cole and I followed Peter to the door.

"But, Peter," Ando stopped us. "You die."

None of us said a word to the man. Peter walked out the door without a response to him.

I gave a sympathetic look towards Ando. "It was nice meeting you, Ando. I hope your friend comes back."

"I know he will and thank you. Good luck."

"You too, bud."

I quickly caught up with Peter, Cole traveling by my side. We didn't say a word to each other the whole way. I didn't even ask why we were walking instead of taking a taxi. But my question was answered as soon as Union Wells High School came into my view. The diner must've been only a couple blocks away. I'll admit: I was mad at Peter for not telling me. He could be gone in less than an hour and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I don't know what I would have done if I found out about the painting after his death. Peter was too important for me to loose. I already lost my mother; I didn't need to lose a brother either.

We entered through the main hallway of the school. Thankfully it wasn't locked. The dim hallway was completely vacant. The only sign of human life at the school was the commotion heard from the football game nearby. We walked through the hallway until Peter stopped at a glass case.

"Find anything interesting?" I asked him.

"Look at this," Peter pointed to the display.

I did just that. Inside there were various pictures of a blond girl holding an award and a banner reading: JACKIE YOU'RE OUR HERO. But that's not what caught my attention. A newspaper article resided within the glass case. The title of the article read: ODESSA HONORS LOCAL HERO. I went on to read the rest of the article. A girl named Jackie Wilcox had saved a man from a train wreckage that occurred a few weeks ago. I remembered seeing that exact wreckage on the news. The whole place was surrounded by fire. There was no way anyone would've made out alive or without any scars. But in the picture Jackie seemed to be in perfect condition.

"That must be her," I said to no one in particular. I took in Jackie's picture again. I noticed the smug smile on her face. "Or she's just a brainless blond in a cheer uniform who doesn't deserve this much credit."

Peter shot me an annoyed look.

"What?" I said defensively. "I had to say something."

"Let's just go look for her."

Peter took a step away from the case. But just as he did, a girl bumped into him dropping her bag.

"Oh! Sorry," she said.

"Sorry," Peter apologized back.

I got a good look at her as Peter went to pick up her bag. She was blond girl with green eyes and almost my height.

"That was my fault," she admitted sincerely. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

Peter handed her bag back to her.

She turned to walk away, but Peter stopped her. "Hey, do you…You know this girl, Jackie Wilcox?"

The girl turned back to Peter glancing at the glass case. "Yeah. Half time show starts in about five minutes. She'll be out in the field. She's a cheerleader."

Her tone was slow and careful. Like mine was when I was hiding something…Peter smiled down at her.

"Are you guys reporters or something?" she asked us.

"Alumni. I'm curious."

"And I'm his sister," I said to her.

Peter gestured to Cole. "And that's her boyfriend."

I shot a glare at Peter. Sure, _now_ he decides to be my brother. I didn't say anything to his proclamation because of the girl who stood in front of us. But once she left, Peter didn't even have a prayer.

The girl turned to leave, but then turned back once again. "You know, between you and me, she's not that special, just your average teenage girl."

I smiled triumphantly to Peter. "See? I'm not the only one who thinks she's a bit of an airhead."

"Easy for you to say," Cole kept his voice under a low whisper.

I ignored Cole's small comment as Peter replied to the girl's opinion.

"She rushed into a fire and saved a man's life," said Peter. "That sounds kind of special to me."

The girl paused before answering. "Yeah, you're right. I'm jealous. She's our town hero. Me, I don't win too many popularity contests."

For the third time now, the girl turned to leave. Yet again, I began to suspect something about the girl. It wasn't that hard to see that she disliked Jackie whether she openly admitted it or not. I, myself, never had a "rival" at school. Anyone who decided to make me feel that I was nothing got a mouthful out of me. This girl was different though. She claimed something at one point and another she gave up on it all together. It didn't make any sense.

Peter shouted after her. "Hey, it gets better."

She turned to him with a confused look. "What?"

"Life after high school. It gets a lot better."

Finally, after giving a small smile, she went down the hall and turned the corner.

"That was interesting," I said.

"Yeah, she seems like a nice girl," Peter smiled.

"Oh, by the way," I punched him in the shoulder. "Cole and I are not dating. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

He rubbed his shoulder. "More than you should obviously. It'll happen, you can count on that."

"Whatever, I'm not even going to waste my time with this. We have to go find Jackie."

"Definitely," Peter nodded his head. "Let's go wait outside and see if she comes by."

A thought then occurred to me. "Actually, I'm gonna stick around in here. Just in case she passes through. I'll call you if it happens."

"So will I. Cole, are you staying here too or coming with me?"

"I'll go with you," said Cole. "If Jackie comes by Danni, it'll look a little scary if more than one person is asking her questions."

"Fair enough," Peter faced me with apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I know I should have and I didn't. You've been honest with me since the beginning and you deserve the same from me."

A purge of guilt hit me. I couldn't take it anymore. "Peter, I didn't go to camp in Virginia. I was kidnapped by those people Nathan told you about. I don't remember anything that happened the past few days and now I have a mark on my neck. I wanted to tell you, but then you brought up the cheerleader thing and that seemed more important—"

"Danni, stop," Peter halted me in my rant. "I'm not mad that you kept this from me. I'm not really one to talk, as you know. I think that we should look into this though afterward. We can probably prevent other people from being in your situation."

Peter never ceased to amaze me. Even after discovering he didn't have that much time left, he still kept his optimism.

"That sounds great," I said in a low voice. "But we should concentrate on this first. You can worry about me later."

"I'll always be worried about you. Especially now. This guy can take you out as fast he took out Charlie."

"I won't let him. You might want to go outside now."

Peter gave a short nod before leaving for the door. "I'll see you soon then."

Cole faced me. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," I assured him. "If we can get Jackie before that guy does, then we don't even have to worry about facing him off."

"Sounds good to me. Be careful."

"You too."

Cole followed Peter without another word. I was alone in the hallway. I turned to look at the glass case once more. I hoped we could get to Jackie on time. Even a snob like her didn't deserve this kind of murder. I looked to the corner of my eye to see if Jackie had passed through yet, but there was nothing. My eyes moved to the other corner. I jumped a bit at the sight. A tall man in dark clothing stood next to me looking at the same glass case. He looked towards me at my reaction.

"Sorry," I said. "I didn't see you there."

The dark shadow over his face didn't allow me to see his expression. "It's quite all right. You seemed to be interested in the display. Do you go to school here?"

"No. My brother's alumni and I thought I check out the game."

"That sounds nice."

For some reason there was this eeriness around the man. I couldn't explain it. There was something in my gut telling me to get away. So I did. I walked away from the case and towards the changing rooms. I texted to Cole: GOING TO LOCKER ROOM TO WAIT FOR JACKIE.

I figured since I wasn't getting anywhere waiting in the hallway, it would be much more effective if I waited for Jackie to get out of the locker room. Not that I'm trying to be a creeper or anything of course. I easily found the girls' locker room. I waited to the side of the hallway for the cheerleaders to file out of the room. Within moments of me being there, a crowd of girls in white and red cheer uniforms came out of the locker room. I scanned for Jackie, but there had not been any sign of her. I began to worry when I saw the last girl come out (which of whom was not Jackie). _Maybe she's still inside._

I looked to make sure no one was watching me. If she wasn't coming out on her own, I was going to drag her out whether she liked it or not. I marched inside the locker room. I saw no one inside, but I heard two voices echoing throughout the room.

"We used to be BFFs," said one voice. "What happened?"

"Maybe I've gained some perspective," said another.

I recognized the other voice to be the girl who had ran into Peter. She must've been a cheerleader too and she was blond like the girl in the painting too…Ugh, this was too much of a head-scratcher.

"I'm tired of being someone I'm not," said the girl.

The first voice scoffed. "Well, you've been trying to be me since second grade."

"And now you're trying to be me."

"How do you figure?"

"Your little heroic act of pulling the guy out of the burning train car," the girl mocked.

I stopped walking, listening intently to the conversation.

"It wasn't your heroic act. It was mine."

My mouth dropped. _I knew it! _We had the wrong the girl the whole time. She was right in front of me for Christ's sake! I quickly began to follow the voices.

"No, it wasn't," the first voice denied.

"I have it on tape. You know, a good friend of mine once said: it's more important to be honest with yourself and happy than popular. I think he got it right."

I felt myself getting closer. If only the voices didn't have to bounce off the walls.

I heard a locker slam. "Really? Sounds like a loser to me."

I didn't know this chick, but I seriously wanted to slap her. I cannot stand people who are universally shallow. Suddenly the lights went out. I froze. Something was wrong.

"Public schools suck," said the voice.

A chill crawled up my spine as I saw a shadow pass by me. I spun around, but nobody was there. I took in a deep breath. _It's okay, Dan. It's just a blown fuse._

The girl seemed to be concerned as I was. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" her fellow cheerleader groaned.

I heard the voices traveling, so I moved along with them.

"Hello?" the girl called out.

"Stop it. You're freaking me out."

"I thought I heard something."

I was close, I could feel it. I had to get that girl out of there before something bad happened.

The other cheerleader seemed annoyed at the girl's concern. "You're imagining it. Let's go."

"Whoa."

I soon went into a run. I didn't care who heard me anymore. I wasn't the only intruder apparently.

"What is your problem?"

I barely heard what the girl said, but I feel the fear in her voice.

"What the hell?" the other cheerleader yelled.

I saw them step out of an isle of lockers. I continued to pace towards them.

"Something's not right," said the girl.

The girl next to her looked at her irritated. "No duh, we're missing the coronation. Believe me if you don't want to go out there and get that homecoming crown I'm more than happy—"

A sudden blood hurdling scream escaped from the other cheerleader as she disappeared into the isle. I ran as fast as I could. He was here. I quickly found myself to be next to the girl with green eyes who was staring into the locker isle with fear in her eyes. I looked in her direction and gasped. A tall dark man, almost a shadow, lifted Jackie Wilcox up against the lockers by her neck. Jackie let out small cries as she struggled to be free. Within an instant the girl with green eyes, jumped on the man's back.

"No! No! No!" she cried.

With no trouble at all, the man pushed her off his back. I stood there, frozen. I had no idea what to do. Jackie was being strangled and the cheerleader Peter was supposed to save was hurt. It was horrific to watch the scene. I could see the life slowly disappearing from Jackie's eyes. A loud scream escaped from Jackie's voice. I jumped on his back as the girl did before.

"Let her go!" I yelled.

As he had done to the other girl, he pushed me off his shoulder except I landed on the other side of the isle instead of being thrown across the room. A piercing pain came through my shoulder. Jackie's screams were soon muffled by the man's hand. My heart quickened its pace when I saw her head being sliced open without the man putting one hand on her. I looked towards the girl. She was spread out across the floor, covered in blood. A tear ran down my cheek. I had failed. The world was to be doomed.

_Crack!_ My head snapped back over to the girl. She moved! She was alive! I watched in awe as the bruise on her arm slowly disappeared. But that's not what really amazed me. She got to her feet, her face almost disfigured. First her eye popped back into place then the tear in her cheek disappeared back to her flawless skin. This girl could heal. I got to my feet when I realized the man had noticed as well. Although my shoulder rebelled, I ran to her.

Jackie rasped her final breath. "Run."

The man dropped Jackie's lifeless body to the ground.

I grabbed her arm. "C'mon let's get going!"

We ran as fast as we could away from the man. Not one word was exchanged during the run. Before I knew it we were back in the hallway.

"Don't worry, we're almost there," I tried to reassure although I wasn't sure if it was for me or her.

I was put to a stop when my body collided with unmovable force. I looked up and saw Cole. I glanced over and saw Peter had bumped into the cheerleader.

"Are you okay?" Both Peter and Cole asked in the same concerned tone.

The girl looked ahead of Peter. I did so as well to find the man wasn't too far behind from us.

"Run! Go!" Peter demanded.

All of us broke into a run. I had no idea where we would go, but I didn't want to end up like Jackie.

"Keep going! Run!"

Peter had stopped in the hallway. I tried to turn around, but Cole wrapped his arms around me.

"Peter, no!" I screamed.

"Don't argue with him, Danni!" Cole almost dragged me out of the hallway.

We soon ran out of the hallway, coming into an outdoor amphitheater with the girl screaming in front of us.

"Don't stop, keep going!" Cole yelled out.

Cole and I scrambled up the stairs up to the cheerleader. She tripped while going up as well. Peter soon came to her aid in a flash. I smiled. He was still alive.

Peter helped the cheerleader up. "Hey. Hey. It's okay. Come on."

The shadow of the man soon appeared in the light as we traveled up the stairs faster. We stopped as soon as we approached the top of the stairs.

Peter looked at all of us with an intense look.

"What is it?" the cheerleader asked.

"Go to the stadium, okay? Find people. Find lights. He doesn't want to be seen."

I knew exactly where this was going. This was it.

"What about you?" the cheerleader asked desperately.

"Don't worry about me, just go!"

"You'll die!" I exclaimed to him.

"Listen to me and go!"

Cole wrapped an arm around my waist. "I got her, Pete, don't worry."

I screamed in disbelief. "You're in this with him?"

He didn't answer me. Cole pulled me along with him as ran towards the light with the cheerleader by our side.

"I have to stop it, Cole!"

"I promised Peter I would keep you safe. I'm not about to let you get yourself killed."

I kicked Cole in the in shin causing him to loose grip on me. I turned back to find both Peter and the man gone. Quickly taking my phone out of my pocket, I looked at the time: eight-twelve.

"We have to find Peter," I said running down the stairs.

A breathless voice came from behind me. "I'll come with you."

I turned to see the cheerleader standing next to Cole. Sympathy washed through me once I saw her. Blood stained her blond hair and bleed through her cheer uniform. If that hit me, then it was her watery eyes still crying from the incident that we had both witnessed.

I nodded before turning back to my original direction. "Fine with me. You're welcome to come too, Cole."

Poor girl. She had no idea what she was about to see. Neither did I, in many ways. Sure so far all of Mendez's paintings had come true, but there could be a slight chance that we prevented Peter's tragic death from happening. Besides, if I had learned anything this far into the mission, it would be that nothing seems to be what it appears.

All of us ran down the stairs of the amphitheater and swung around to the nearest door. The door quickly led us to a terrifying sight. My feet could longer move as the cheerleader quickly walked ahead of me, shocked at the sight as well. I did my best to hold back my tears, but they over powered me. And why was I crying, you ask? Well, I think you can figure out what happened. The painting had come true: Peter was lying in his own blood with his faded brown eyes open.

Cole came up beside me, taking me into an embrace. My head collapsed onto his shoulder, my tears staining his jacket. I couldn't believe it. He was really gone. Peter was—

A loud cough came from nearby. I lifted my head from Cole's shoulder and peeked in the direction of the coughing. I gasped. It was Peter! I sprinted from Cole and bent down with the cheerleader towards Peter.

The cheerleader was awestruck by the sight as well. "You…"

Peter groaned as he turned his hip over the right way. I looked away at the sight. I might have been more than happy Peter survived, but I didn't want to see the healing process. I looked back once he was breathing normally again.

"How did you…"

"Where is he?" was the first question Peter asked.

I searched for the murderer around me, but he was nowhere to be seen. That bastard must have ran away once he realized this was too much work for him. I clenched my fist. He could've killed Peter and walked away merrily without one inch of guilt in his system.

"I don't know," the cheerleader answered. "He ran away before we got here."

"Please," Peter breathed. "Go get some help, okay?"

"Okay, I'll be back." She got up to her feet. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Peter."

She looked to me expectantly. Apparently she wanted to know mine as well.

"Danni," I said.

"I'm Claire," she said to us.

"Are you the one?" Peter asked. "By saving you did I save the world?"

Claire shook her head. "I don't know. I'm just a cheerleader."

She ran in the other direction towards the lights ahead.

I faced Peter. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"After you left, he came and pushed us both off of the ledge above…the next thing I know I'm waking up with Claire standing next to me. I'm not even sure how I lived."

"You said you could absorb other people's abilities, so maybe you absorbed hers."

"That means she can heal," Peter said.

"Yeah, I saw her heal when he pushed her to a wall."

His eyes became wide. "You were there?"

I nodded my head. "I didn't know it would happen that early. I tried to help Jackie, I really did. It was too late and I wasn't strong enough."

I cringed at a sudden jolt of pain in my shoulder.

Cole knelt down with me. "Whoa, are you okay?"

"Sorta," I clenched my shoulder. "I jumped on him so that he would let go of Jackie, but he threw me against a wall of lockers. Now my shoulder's hurting."

"We'll get you to a hospital as soon as we can. Unlike Peter or Claire, you don't heal so easily."

Peter flashed a smile at me. "You did good, Danni."

"But Jackie—she…"

"There was nothing you could do. You did everything you could."

Police sirens soon blared around us. Peter quickly turned his broken ankle back into place before facing the red and blue sirens. The police came out of their cars with guns faced to us.

"That's the guy," said one police man. "He's the one in the overcoat the janitor saw. Put your hands on your head!"

I realized exactly what setting we were in. Peter sat in a pool of blood after a murder with Cole and I by his side. Such a great place to be by the way.

"What? He's not the real guy!" I yelled at them.

The police man pointed his gun at me. "Both you two! Put your hands on your head!"

Peter, Cole and I slowly placed our hands behind our heads. There was no use in arguing with these authorities considering we were on their side.

Another police man yelled, "What the hell? Look at all of that blood."

"It's not what you think, guys," Peter rasped.

"All right, hands up."

I soon felt a rough hand grab onto my wrist placing a cold ring around it. The hand did the same to my other wrist.

"What are you doing?" Peter demanded. "It's not us. He's getting away."

"Let's go. Stand up."

I carefully got to my feet as the police man behind me kept a tight grip on me. I was being arrested!

I struggled in his grasp. "You've got the wrong people! The real guy is getting away!"

The police man ignored me. I struggled as much as I could, screaming out my lungs that Peter was innocent. They pushed me into a car with Cole beside me. I looked out the window to find Peter in a different car. Our eyes met for one long moment. Had our moment of heroism cost us our lives as we knew it? If the killer was getting away, who would be his next target or would it still be Claire?

As the car drove away from the school, I began to contemplate on the past few weeks or so. Insanity was one way to describe it. It began with a dream and now here I was in the back of a police car. Had it been worth the confusion and the anxiety to save a single cheerleader's life?

Yes.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! I hoped you enjoyed that chapter. I would really appreciate it if you could leave a review since this was technically a big chapter (content wise). I was thinking about posting a YouTube video of me answering questions about this story or any of my other stories since I've been getting a lot of private messages about them. I have a poll on my profile page and if you do have any questions-fan-fiction related only-private message me or if you're not a member you can leave an anonymous review. Feedback would be great, thanks!<p>

~Emyrox567


	10. Six Months Ago

Six Months Ago

I know it's strange to do this, but it all seems to be happening so fast. First Peter jumps off a building and then, out of nowhere, a cheerleader is murdered by an unnamed villain. With all of this happening, you begin to wonder what started all of it. I know I am. I'm not sure of the exact time period in which everything began to unwind, but it definitely hadn't been a few weeks ago. Although many others would argue with me, I believe it happened six months ago. The night before my sixteenth birthday to be exact.

I was forced to attend a dinner party celebrating Arthur and Angela Petrelli's forty-first wedding anniversary. As usual at these type of get-togethers, I was bored out of my mind. This one was different though. Somehow I could feel that there was something off from the social norm I was used to. Instead of just telling you what happened those next few days, I might as well show you.

I stood there at the bottom of the Petrelli Mansion's staircase with Peter and Nathan by my side as my foster father, Arthur began to make his speech with Angela by his side.

"I'd like to thank all our dear friends for coming tonight," he said to all of his guests, "and for helping us to celebrate. Nathan, the finest Assistant DA New York has ever known. Peter, whose compassionate heart is a gift to us all."

"Told you he couldn't say 'nurse' out loud," Peter whispered to us.

I giggled at how true the statement was. Although Arthur would never admit it, he was disappointed that Peter decided to go into the medical field as compared to his brother's great achievements.

"Danielle, the newest addition to our loving family," Arthur continued.

I hissed to Nathan and Peter. "I told you he couldn't say anything nice about me."

Peter smiled at the observation. Nathan on the other hand was not pleased with us.

"All right," he mumbled, silently telling us to listen to Arthur's speech.

I looked back up the staircase.

Arthur faced Angela. "But most of all, to Angela, the love of my life."

Everyone but me raised their glass of champagne. "Cheers."

Once everyone in the room had their sip of champagne, Arthur and Angela made their way down the stairs.

Angela smiled to Arthur. "That was lovely."

"Let me have a…"

Arthur embraced Angela in more than a friendly way that I would've liked to see. I might've been fifteen then, but I really wasn't in the mood to see my foster parents cuddle up like that.

Thankfully, Nathan answered my prayers. "All right, get a room."

Reluctantly, they separated from each other.

"After forty-one years of marriage, you take it when you get it," Angela pointed out to us.

Peter kissed Angela on the cheek. "Congratulations, Mom."

Nathan gave a brief hug to Arthur. "Congratulations, Dad."

"Congrats to the both of you," I said to them.

A familiar English voice came from behind us. "My king, my queen, congratulations."

Daniel Linderman took Angela's hand and kissed it.

"Thank you, Daniel," said Angela.

Linderman shook Arthur's hand. "Congratulations."

I remembered Linderman vividly. He was lanky man with white hair and a small beard surrounding his jaw. Linderman was a family friend of the Petrellis. He would come to visit sometimes to talk business to Arthur. Unfortunately he wasn't exactly a friend to Nathan. Apparently, Linderman had been the head of some big mob.

Linderman looked to Nathan. "So, Nathan, the rumors are true?"

"Excuse me?" Nathan gave a puzzled look towards the old man.

"I heard your office is about to launch a full-scale investigation on all things Linderman. Care to comment?"

He didn't seem pleased nor did he appear to be angry. It seemed that every time I heard his voice I could feel comfort and discomfort as if it was the voice of a snake itself.

"I'd shave my wrists," Nathan responded coldly. "Handcuffs can chafe."

If only I had known that six months later. Linderman chuckled as Nathan led Peter and me away from him.

"Is it a really good idea to have the guy you're charging attending your parents' anniversary party?" I asked him skeptically.

"It wasn't exactly my decision to make," said Nathan.

"Still, he's our guest, Nathan," Peter argued. "Keep your grudge against him inside of the courthouse."

I turned my attention away from the brothers' bickering and looked to Linderman. He was speaking to Arthur as they were both watching us—or rather watching Nathan. Unlike the admiring look that Arthur held whenever he faced Nathan, this one was different. It seemed to be business that the men were speaking about. What business exactly, I didn't know. It just didn't look right.

The rest night went on as it usually did: in utter boredom. The encounter with Linderman stayed fresh in my mind. Somehow I had found it significant to keep it in my mind.

The next morning went on as it usually did. I woke up, got ready, had breakfast and left the house for school. All of which happened without one encounter with my foster parents.

I arrived at school in the tired mess as I normally did, heading straight for my locker. I began dialing in the combination number for my locker.

"Guess what day it is today," a voice sang next to me.

I rolled my eyes, but continued to open my locker. "Geometry final. I barely studied last night because of the Petrellis' anniversary party."

I grabbed the book I needed and slammed my locker revealing my friend, Ava Shah, leaning against the locker next to mine. She had black hair like mine, but unlike my straight boring hair, hers was wavier. Ava also possessed the penny-like skin tone as her Indian relatives did. I told you would meet her later.

She looked at me with an expression of disbelief. "You're not serious, are you?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Serious about what?"

"I can't believe you forgot your own birthday!"

"Oh that," I waved it off.

"Don't you, 'oh that' with me!" Ava scolded me. "It's your _sixteenth_ birthday."

"Okay, so I'm one year closer to dying. What's the big deal?"

"You're sixteen now. You can get a job and a driver's license."

"All right, I'm one year closer to dying with privileges," I smirked.

Ava was not the least amused. "Tell me: do you _ever_ make a big deal of anything?"

Back then, there wasn't anything I got over-excited about. But six months later, of course, I would make a big deal about my power.

I shook my head playfully. "Nope."

"You definitely haven't been my friend long enough then."

"Oh great, what are you planning now?" a voice moaned near us.

I looked up to see Cole with a worried expression on his face.

Ava smiled mischievously. "I'm planning a little get-together after school whether Danni likes it or not."

"She figured out it was your birthday, didn't she?" Cole guessed.

I nodded my head. "Unfortunately."

"What?" she crossed her arms. "Is it wrong to show appreciation for your friends?"

"No, but I just don't celebrate my birthday anymore. Ever since I moved in with the Petrellis, I figured there was no point to celebrating it anymore."

"Well I'm about to change your mind tonight. We're going over to Cole's house and we're going to celebrate it."

Cole raised an eyebrow. "And when did I approve of this?"

"You don't have to," said Ava. "Consider this as Danni's birthday gift."

"But I already got her a gift."

I interrupted them before their bickering continued. "Thanks guys, but really, you don't have to do anything. It's only my birthday."

Ava scoffed. "Please, you would do the same for us. Now, whether you come willingly or I have to drag you by your feet, my mom will drive you guys to Cole's house."

The first bell rang for the day.

"Fine," I sighed. "I'll go, but for a couple hours. Peter's graduation party is tonight."

"Good with me. I'll see you guys during class."

Ava waved at us before trotting down the hallway.

Cole surprised me with an embrace. "I forgot to wish you happy birthday."

I gave into the hug. "It's cool. This is _my_ birthday we're talking about here."

"Exactly."

An irritating voice passed by us. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

The voice was easily recognizable. I separated from Cole and charged towards Dylan Harris who was already half-way down the hallway. The boy may have been a sophomore at the time, but he would forever be a sixth grader.

"Yeah, you better run, Harris!" I shouted after him. "Just wait until dance rehearsals!"

Cole rested a hand on my shoulder. "Chill. Dylan is being Dylan."

"Which is annoying, if I may add. I'm tired of people assuming we're dating only because we hang out."

"Is Peter still on us about dating?"

"Is Jack?" I smirked. "Face it: everyone thinks they can choose our destinies for us."

"What is destiny anyway?"

"The reason why things happen to you in life apparently. They're all supposed to lead to that one destiny."

"How do you know if it's your destiny though? What if it passed you by and you didn't know?"

I shook my head. "Do you really think I know the answer to that? It's Friday and I'm ready to shut down my brain."

"Sorry. That certain word has been bugging me lately and I can't figure out why."

"Well, your brother is going to college next year, right? Maybe you're already stressing about that already."

"Yeah, maybe." Cole shrugged. "We should get to class. My mom will have my head if I'm late for English again."

I followed Cole by his side as we traveled down the hallway. "And Cole, one more thing about destiny: it's not chosen by other people, it's all you."

I could go on and tell you what happened during school hours, but you would probably just skip all those passages about it. So to make things easier on you, I'll go straight to the small party that Ava decided to throw for me. I may have not wanted a party but Ava knew how to throw a party for me. It was small and the people I cared about were there. Simple. Cole's mom had made a cake (after receiving a text from Ava that morning). We had already sung the God-awful happy birthday song and now we were enjoying cake as Cole and Ava were handing over my presents.

Ava was the first to shove hers in front of me. "Ladies first."

"Since when does that rule apply to opening presents?" Cole questioned.

"When does the rule never apply?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to argue with you. Go ahead and go first."

She smiled smugly at Cole before turning to face me. "Happy Birthday, Danni."

I glanced down at the large box with baby-blue wrapping. _Please don't let it be a super-sized makeup kit…_ I didn't let my fears get in the way, though. I unwrapped the present without one care in the world. Thankfully, it wasn't that makeup kit I dreaded (she's been trying to get me to wear more of that stuff ever since I met her). It was a large brown box that had yet to be completely open. I quickly slid the lid of the box revealing it to be an American Eagle top and a pair of skinny jeans.

"Wow, Ava," I examined the outfit. "I am truly surprised."

Ava smiled even more than before. "I know. I figured I'd stop trying to convince you to wear more glittery makeup. The outfit should pull off your sexiness though."

Cole was taken aback. "How is it that you have the ability to make a guy feel uncomfortable in the room?"

"Are you saying guys in general or yourself? Besides, you're going to be a junior soon; it would be about time you got a girlfriend."

"You know, you don't have to date in high school," I sorely pointed out.

"Of course you say that now, but things can change," said Ava.

Cole's face turned a light pink. "OK, let's move on now." He handed me a small wrapped box. "Happy Birthday, Danni."

I gently took the box from him. I had no idea what lied in that box. Not once had I asked anything from him for my birthday yet every year Cole knew what to get for me. I unwrapped the gift as quickly as I had received it. Inside, laid a silver chain heart-shaped locket with a series of roses engraved around the rim of the heart.

"It's beautiful, Cole," I said. "Where'd you get it?"

"I found it in this old antique shop," he answered. "The owner said that he bought it off of a guy in Virginia. Apparently, this was worn by a woman who died during the Civil War times from a murder."

Ava shifted her body uncomfortably. "Well that's a great job to complement her birthday."

"It's okay, Ava," I reassured. "I like it. It's got a story and a mystery to it. Did the owner tell you anything else, Cole?"

He shrugged. "Not much. The shopkeeper didn't know much about it himself, which is probably why I got it so cheap. I don't even remember the town that he said it came from. But that's beside the point. I thought since you lived there before you moved here that, it might bring back the memory of your mother again—you know before she died."

Lightly smiling, I nodded. "We did live in Virginia before she died. I don't remember where exactly we lived, but I remember it was a very peaceful town. The doctors said that reason why everything seems so vague now is because of the shock of my mother dying. I was young and apparently it got to me." I removed the necklace from the box. "Thank-you, Cole. Maybe this thing will help to relapse some memories of her."

"No problem."

A timer suddenly went off from my phone. I took one look at it, realizing what it was for.

I shot up to my feet. "Shoot! I gotta get home before I head to Peter's."

"Are you sure you want to go?" Ava asked. "It is your birthday after all."

"Peter graduated from nursing school. That only happens once in a lifetime. My birthday happens every year, on the other hand."

"Well, if you're going to be leaving so early then you might as well try on the gift I gave you."

I eyed her skeptically. "Is that an option?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

Rolling my eyes, I took the outfit from the box. "Fine. I'll be out in a couple seconds. You guys can come with me, if you want. Peter will be happy to open his doors to you besides his family and friends."

"I would, but my cousin's over from India. My mom said I had to go over for dinner tonight," said Ava.

"I'm pretty sure I'll be able to go," Cole said. "I'll just have to clear it up with my mom."

I gave one nod. "Cool. Let me get changed really quick first then we'll be on our way out."

It was a miracle I could fit those jeans on me. They were a pain to put on (that's why I had spent years in avoiding them). The top, luckily, slipped right onto me. To show my gratitude towards Cole's gift, I placed the necklace around my neck. It was beautiful yet fragile at the same time. I would have to take special care of it considering its age. Once I received Ava's approval for the outfit, Cole and I headed back to the Petrelli Mansion.

With my previous clothes on hand, I rushed up the stairs of the Petrelli Mansion upon entering. I threw my clothes to the hamper in my room and searched my pillow for Peter's wrapped gift.

I pulled it right out from under my pillow. "Got it."

Cole's voice finally caught up with me. "What did you get him?"

"I didn't get him anything. I made it instead."

He left the vague answer there. "Did Peter know it was your birthday today?"

"Probably not. This week's been crazy enough to forget your own name, so I don't blame him if it slipped his mind. Not that it really matters anyway."

Again, he abandoned the chance to contradict me. "So how are we getting to Peter's apartment?"

"Nathan and Heidi should be on their way here to give us all a ride, but Angela is having her driver drive us as well. Pick your poison."

"Let's see…the self-absorbed ADA or the strange foster mother. I think I'd rather go with Nathan if Heidi's in the car."

"We'll have to ride with Angela anyway on the way back."

"That's better than having her both ways."

I had to agree with the statement. A knock came from the door. I turned to face big-headed idiot himself standing at the doorway.

"Hey, have you seen Ma or Dad?" asked Nathan.

I shook my head. "I just got home."

"Could you help me look for them?" He grinned to Cole. "You can wait with Heidi at the front door."

Cole silently took the suggestion. It was clear I was stuck with Nathan whether I had a say in it or not. Shortly after Cole left the room, I joined Nathan in searching for Angela and Arthur. They couldn't have been that far. It's not like they had anything important to do.

My help proved to be useless as Nathan led me through the mansion. We soon approached the garden which thankfully had Angela and Arthur.

Nathan approached them. "Hey there, just thought I'd stop by and see if…"

Angela stopped him as she paced past us. "I tried, he won't."

I rolled my eyes. Could a father really be so ashamed that his son became a nurse? Sure Nathan was in the Air Force and was one of the most successful ADAs, but still, Peter was serving society as well.

We turned to leave, but Arthur stopped Nathan.

"Nathan," Arthur called, "while you're here…"

"I'll be there in a minute," Nathan muttered to me.

"Okay," I said.

Before I left the garden, I could still see that expression that Arthur held as he faced Nathan. Business, again. It somehow bothered me. The look appeared to hold a strong dark figure. Shaking it off as it being paranoia, I headed back inside.

Shortly after I had met Cole and Heidi at the front door, Nathan returned from his chat with Arthur. We left in Nathan's convertible while Angela had a driver take her to Peter's apartment. The car ride would have been in silence if Heidi wasn't as sociable as she was then. She would ask Cole and I the basic questions: how school was and all that junk. Surprisingly it turned out to be a full conversation.

It still shocked me that Heidi was married to Nathan yet I didn't care. They were happy and that was that.

We arrived at Peter's apartment by the time the sun was replaced by the moon. As soon as we found parking nearby, we headed towards Peter's apartment, meeting Angela at the front of the building.

A series of muffled chattering came out of Peter's apartment door. Apparently he had plenty of friends from medical school to fill his usual empty apartment. Nathan was the first to knock on the door.

The door soon opened, revealing it to be Peter smiling at us. "Hey. How's it going?"

Nathan pulled the wrapped box from under his shoulder, flashing the pair of shoes inside. "Ladies, ten and a half."

I almost had half a mind to punch Nathan in the shoulder. He was worse than Arthur for crying out loud!

"Oh, you know, the reason why I became a nurse was to wear shoes like this," Peter responded sarcastically. "Thank you very much."

"Of course." Nathan entered the apartment. "Get a drink?"

"Yeah, yeah. It's right inside."

Peter embraced Heidi as Nathan disappeared. "Hi."

"I told him it wasn't funny," she tried to argue.

"I know," he let out a small chuckle. Heidi followed behind Nathan while Peter moved to the side to allow Angela, Cole, and I through.

"Hey, Mom," he greeted. "Hey, Danni and Cole."

Angela gave him a light kiss on the cheek as she passed. "Hello, sweetheart."

Peter closed the door behind us as we entered. "How are you?"

"Good," she answered. "Your father is very proud of you."

Peter could see through the lie. "And still, he couldn't make it."

"I wouldn't worry about it, Pete," I reassured. "He never comes to my dance performances anyway. I guess being a dancer is shameful to him too."

Angela cut in before I could continue. "Well, he had a meeting. Mr. Linderman's in Atlantic City with…"

I resisted the urge to snort. Even Angela couldn't tell him the truth that Arthur was only in the garden of the Petrelli Mansion.

Peter stopped her. "Listen, I did this without his blessing and without his money. Okay, so, I think it's only right that we celebrate without him."

I smiled at the statement. Nothing in this world would get Peter down.

"I have always wanted a nurse in the family," Angela stated, proudly. "We have enough lawyers."

"Thanks, Mom."

With that, Angela walked away into the party.

Peter faced Cole and I. "Hey, guys. How's it going?"

"Pretty good," I shrugged.

Cole held out his hand. "Congrats, man. You deserve it."

Peter briefly shook it. "Thanks. I'm glad you guys could come."

I suddenly remembered what I was holding in my hand. "Oh! Before I forget," I handed the present to him, "Happy Graduation. It's not the greatest, but it was the best I could do."

"Trust me; anything would be better than Nathan's nurse shoes."

Peter ripped off the wrapping paper from the top of the box and took off the lid. "Wow. I definitely wasn't expecting this." He removed the photo album from the box.

"They're photos of us…and sometimes Cole pops in there too. I figured if you got a nursing job far away you would want something to remind you of New York."

"I don't think I could ever forget you, Danni—if that who you're referring to." He paused, his eyes slowly widening. "Oh shoot! Today's your birthday!"

I stopped him before he could go on a rant. "It's okay. You've been worried enough about your graduation, Nathan's case, and your parents' anniversary. I'm not surprised you forgot."

"That's still no excuse. I didn't even get you a present…"

"Would you stop? My birthday is not important right now. If it's any consolation, being here and celebrating your graduation is great present for me."

Unlike Ava, he didn't persist in the subject. "If you say so…but you better brace yourself for next year though. Now I've got two birthday gifts to get you."

"Sounds great."

Peter turned to leave. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to grab the drinks for Nathan."

"Don't listen to a word he says," I shouted behind him. "Being a nurse is just as much as an accomplishment as a lawyer."

Peter gave me a thumb's up as a response.

Cole furrowed his brow. "What is it with Arthur and Nathan against Peter's career choice?"

"Being a lawyer means you have power," I explained, "and Arthur and Nathan _love_ power. Not to mention Nathan is Arthur's favorite, so therefore he feels the obligation to please his father."

"I couldn't imagine being in a family like that. Jack wanted to be an Engineer because he loved math and technology. As long as I've lived my parents have never pressured my brother and I to be something we're not."

"It's like my mom said to me once: 'Life's a masquerade, you can be anyone you want, but what really matters is what's under the mask.'"

Cole chuckled. "You always know what to say."

My face turned a light pink. Thankfully, it was dark enough for Cole not to notice. Suddenly, I heard the stereo playing my favorite song.

I pulled on Cole's arm. "C'mon, dance with me."

He resisted. "You don't want to see me dance—it's not pretty."

"It doesn't matter, it's just a party." I smirked mischievously. "Besides it is my birthday."

"Now, of all times, you decide to use it to your advantage," Cole moaned, giving in.

I pulled Cole to the dance floor where a crowd of Peter's friends were. Cole didn't lie about being a bad dancer. He flailed around his arms most of the time…but let's not concentrate on that. After spending a couple hours at Peter's graduation party, Angela took Cole and I home (as we dreaded).

Angela and I arrived home soon after driving Cole back to his house. I entered the Petrelli Mansion, slipping off my jacket.

"So how was the party?"

I jumped slightly at the sound of Arthur's voice. I had almost forgotten he decided against coming to the party with us, but I didn't expect him to be waiting for us at the front door.

"It was lovely," Angela told him. "You should have come."

"Nah, I had some gardening to do anyway."

I began to head in the direction of my room. There was usually no point in trying to start a conversation with Arthur. He would only ignore me most of the time.

"And how was your night, Danielle?"

My foot froze on the first step it took up the stairs. _Did he really just address me? _I didn't feel honored that he decided to speak to me, just shocked.

I faced him, attempting to not appear as surprised as I was. "Fine."

"Well that's good. Did you have a nice birthday?"

"Yeah…how did you know it was my birthday?"

"Danielle," he stared at me as if he knew something I didn't, "you've lived here for about four years now. I think I would know when your birthday is."

"Oh."

I wanted to point out to Arthur of the lack of support he failed to show on my birthday, but I decided to hold that to rest.

"How old are you now?"

"Sixteen," I said simply.

"Ah, I remembered when I turned sixteen," Angela reminisced. "So much responsibility comes to you at that age. Are you ready for that?"

"And what responsibilities are these?"

"You'll see as time goes on."

Surprisingly I didn't have a response for that. Angela caught me off guard…it was as if she knew something was coming and she was holding it behind her smile. Thankfully the phone rang and Angela was the one to volunteer to answer it.

Arthur didn't waste a moment to speak to me once more. "So, what are you planning to be when you grow up?"

"I'm not exactly sure…I don't want to work in an office nor do I want to travel every day."

"As a Petrelli, I believe you should be in a position where you can benefit others—that's where Nathan and Peter are."

"But I'm not a Petrelli," I argued.

"Not by blood, but once you're a Petrelli, you're always a Petrelli."

It must have been in the Petrelli's genes to come up with a closing argument because I could respond to Arthur's statement as well. Again, I could feel the secrets slowly creeping up behind me.

"I have to get to bed," was all I could say. "I told Cole I would meet him to do the Spanish homework with him in the morning."

Arthur gave one nod. "Very well. Goodnight, Danielle."

"Goodnight."

I nearly ran up the stairs. The encounter was weird enough, but then he had to bring up me being a part of this family permanently. Even then I didn't want to think about it. My plan to move out after high school was still visible—no matter what my foster parents said or even what they meant for that matter. As soon as I changed into comfortable clothing I crashed onto my bed, falling fast asleep.

"Danielle," a voice kept repeating in my ear.

The more my name was repeated, the more I felt the urgency in the tone and the more the volume rose. Eventually my consciousness came back (much to my displeasure).

"What?" I groaned.

The voice became stern. "Danielle, wake up."

My eyes shot open to find Arthur hovering over me. "Why…?"

"Nathan and Heidi are in the hospital. We have to go."

Suddenly everything was a blur. I barely remembered what I was doing at the time. Somehow Arthur's tragic news shook me: Nathan and Heidi were in a car crash shortly after leaving Peter's party and Heidi had been in surgery for ten hours. I ran out of the house with Angela and Arthur wearing only a jacket, a pair of pajamas, and fuzzy slippers. The drive to the hospital was deathly quiet. I wanted to reassure them that Nathan and Heidi would be all right, but they didn't need consolation—they needed to think. I wasn't exactly in favor of Nathan yet I couldn't imagine life without him.

All of us jumped out of the car once we arrived in the hospital parking structure. I could distinctly remember running past the receptionist desk as the woman behind the desk yelled after us. She sure got a mouthful out of Angela. Relief washed over me as soon as I saw a familiar figure in the hallway facing his back towards us.

Angela was the first to run up to him. "Nathan, thank God."

"Is she all right?" demanded Arthur.

Angela caressed Nathan's face, attempting to care for his cuts on his face. Nathan looked anything but happy.

"Are you okay, Nathan?" I asked, barely audible.

His eyes were only to the floor. "Not right now, Danni."

"Nathan, is she all right?" Arthur repeated his question.

"Don't even talk to me, Dad," he mumbled.

"Nathan."

Nathan spun around from Angela's grasp and faced Arthur. "You think I don't know who did this?" he seethed. "It was Linderman's guys who ran me off the road."

Unlike Nathan, Arthur didn't return the glare. "Are you sure?"

"That's it, Dad? That's the best you got? Am I sure? You invite that man into our home. He tried to kill me, Dad!"

Peter stepped in front of Nathan, pulling him away from Arthur. "C'mon, stop."

"Heidi will never walk again!" Nathan continued to rant.

"Stop, stop."

Peter soothed Nathan once more. I could've sworn I had gone numb. Heidi would forever be bound to a chair. She would never be able to play soccer with Monty or Simon nor would she ever get to walk with Nathan. The life that once knew was now over and Arthur didn't seem to take any sympathy for his daughter-in-law.

"I'm good," Nathan finally said, his voice down to the minimum level. "Heidi, it's her spine. She broke her back."

Angela was on the verge of tears. "Oh, God. Oh, no."

Peter stopped her. "Mom." He looked back at Nathan. "She just woke up and she's asking for you. Come on."

Nathan charged for Arthur. "I'm gonna hurt that man, and when I do, if you're standing next to him, you're gonna get hurt, too.

"Come on," Peter urged Nathan.

"It's time to choose a side, Dad. Your client or your family."

"Nathan?" Angela called his name as Peter led him away.

Arthur put a hand on her shoulder. "I think we should go. Nathan needs some time alone."

She quietly nodded as they walked out of the hallway. I stood there, frozen. What just happened? Could Arthur really be involved with Heidi's predicament? I tried to stray away from the idea, but the way that Arthur was speaking to Linderman and the way that he looked at Nathan before Peter's party seemed to be more than a coincidence.

"C'mon, Danielle," he encouraged.

"What about Heidi?" I choked out. "Won't she need us there?"

"Nathan won't let us anywhere near her."

"I think you're talking about yourself."

"Excuse me?"

Instead of backing down from my defiance, I embraced it. "You heard me. Just because Nathan is pointing all of his anger at you doesn't mean we should desert Heidi all together."

Arthur took a step towards me. "It's nearly four in the morning, you're tired and you haven't had a breakfast: you're not thinking things clearly right now."

"What's clear then? Me speaking my mind or yours?"

He took my wrist. "You're coming home now."

"No," I struggled against his grip. "I'm staying here with Heidi."

"You listen to me now, Danielle," he hissed furiously, bringing his face closer to mine. "I'm your father; you will do exactly what I say."

"No, you're not," I sneered at him. "Not even close."

I could feel Arthur's grip around my wrist tighten, but before he could take me anywhere, Peter's voice appeared right beside me.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Peter questioned his father.

Arthur released me from his grip. "Trying to convince your sister to come home. Would you care to persuade her yourself?"

Peter faced me. "Why don't you want to go home?"

"I want to stay with Heidi and help her out," I explained, something Arthur didn't let me do. "It's Saturday anyway—I can tell Cole to meet me here to do our homework."

"That's fine." He turned to Arthur. "I'll take care of her, Dad. You and Mom go ahead and rest."

Arthur's eyes laid firmly on me. "All right. Give me a call whenever you want me to take her off your hands."

I stared blankly into Arthur's ominous glare. He was beyond furious with me, but that wasn't what I was afraid of. A glint in his eyes told me he was planning something—something I had yet to know about—and that's where my true fear came from.

Peter nodded as Arthur left with Angela out of the hallway.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said. "Though, I think I might have to stay at your place for a while."

"I know, I heard of a little bit of that conversation. So do you want to see Heidi now? I think Nathan's feeling a little uncomfortable being with her alone."

"Sure."

Peter gently guided me to Heidi's room. I won't go into what happened after as I did with that scene with Arthur and me. By now, I'm pretty sure you've figured out my distant relationship with my foster father, the cause of Heidi's inability to walk, and how far I was willing to go to be there for the people I loved. Well, a few days after my last conversation with Arthur, Nathan had come to Peter's apartment to inform us of Arthur's death (at which time Nathan claimed he died of a heart attack).

I can't explain why these certain events come to my mind as I laid on the uncomfortable jail bed in my cell. Maybe I had finally come to the point where I was questioning when everything went wrong. Six months ago was when I began to inquire about my surroundings. Nothing is what it seems. The kind Mr. Linderman became the evil mobster to ruin Nathan's married life and the quiet Arthur Petrelli appeared to be a man of secrets. If I could turn back time to warn myself of the future ahead, I would…yet that would be cheating. It wouldn't be the future if you knew what was to come.

Some birthday that was six months ago…

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! I know I combined the Six Months Ago episode with Villains, but I figured it would easier instead of going back to the same episode and writing it again. The next chapter will go back to the present time so I hope you enjoyed a little blast from the past for Danni. Review and tell me your thoughts!<p>

~Emyrox567


	11. What Lies Underneath

What Lies Underneath

_Ba-Da-Dum…Ba-Da-Dum…Ba-Da-Dum…_

My eyes slowly opened to the bright light above me. I was surprised I could even sleep on the extremely lumpy mattress provided by the Odessa Police Department. Not to mention I was worried for Peter's well-being. Cole and I could be let off easy, but Peter was the one covered in blood—visually a prime suspect.

_Ba-Da-Dum…Ba-Da-Dum…_the pounding sound continued.

For a moment I thought it was my heart, but it was echoing around the small room. I sat up to look for the source, catching Cole leaning against the brick wall beside his bed and clenching a red rubber ball.

He threw it to the wall once again. _Ba-Da-Dum!_ The ball landed back into his hand.

"Do you find that entertaining?" I questioned, almost teasing.

His eyes didn't move from the wall. "It's better than nothing." Then Cole's head suddenly perked up to me. "Oh, Danni, you're up."

"How long was I asleep?"

"For the rest of the night. I tried sleeping, but the bed was uncomfortable and the waking thought that I'm in jail kept me up."

"Nathan always said I would get arrested one day," I recalled. "I never thought he'd be right."

"This isn't a joking matter."

"Are you trying to go goody-two shoes on me, Bowman?"

Cole crashed onto his bed. "I'm serious. How are we going to explain what happened?"

I finally understood Cole's frustration. He wasn't upset about getting arrested; he was strategizing how to answer the police's intense questions.

I sighed. "A heroin addict told us a cheerleader was in danger and we just happened to be in the same place at the right time."

"You can't be serious," Cole moaned.

"I've never done this before, okay. Sure, I still haven't told Angela about it but I haven't exactly covered up for it either."

"You're Peter's sister: they're going to question you first and you have to have an answer without spilling what you, Peter, and Claire can do."

"But how?"

He clasped his hands over his head, slowly running his fingers through his blond hair. "How do you tell the truth yet lie at the same time?"

The question seemed to be aimed at himself so I didn't answer.

Cole came to abrupt pause. "Wait…that's it!"

I raised an eyebrow. "What's it?"

"Acting! You can act."

"No, I can't," I interjected.

"Not professionally, but pretend that you were there with Peter to see the game. It's like when I get on stage: I'm usually not anything like my character yet I know what they'll say and do. Your character can be the Danni without powers."

"And what would she say?"

"I don't know. She's your character."

The door opened revealing, a man in a dark blue uniform. "Ms. Petrelli, it's time for questioning."

I got up from my bed. "Where's Peter?"

"Mr. Petrelli is in another cell at the moment."

"Can I see him first before you take me in?"

"I'm sorry, but Officer Parkman and Detective Hanson would like to see you as of now."

"Fine, but can I see Peter after though?"

"You'll have to take that up with them," he gestured for me to follow him. "Come on."

I looked at Cole in case there was anything he could say. He only gave me a reassuring glance. Slowly but surely, I followed the officer out of my cell. Answers to possible questions swarmed throughout my head. As much as I tried to come up with a plan to avoid the whole situation, all I wanted to do was run. The possibility of someone else finding out what I was made me scared even more than the dark man who killed Jackie Wilcox.

I was soon led to a small bright room with a black table and two chairs facing opposite of each other.

"Go ahead and sit down," the officer told me. "I'll let them know you're here."

Nodding, I sat myself down on one of the chairs. They must've thought I wasn't the murderer since the officer was willing to leave me alone for a mere few minutes. It wasn't even a few minutes when two people came bursting through the door now that I thought about it. One of them was a thin woman with short blonde hair while the other was large man with black hair.

The woman was the first to speak. "Hello, Ms. Petrelli. I'm agent Audrey Hanson and this is my partner, Matt Parkman. You've got a lot of explaining to do."

Before anything else was to be said, I at least had to point one clear thing out. "Peter didn't kill the cheerleader—it was someone else."

Agent Hanson sat herself opposite of me. "We know. We just need to ask you a few questions."

"What kind of questions?"

"Like what was a high school student from Manhattan doing at a high school homecoming in Odessa?"

I eyed her suspiciously. "How did you I was from New York?"

"We looked through your files when we confiscated your driver's license. Now answer my question."

I thought about this strategically: if they knew where I lived, they must have known I was adopted and Nathan was running for congress.

Gradually, I let the words slip from my mouth. "I came here with my friend to get away from home. It was just out of random that I chose Odessa and then I saw the sign for homecoming so…I decided to check it out."

"She's lying," Parkman blurted.

I stared at him blankly. "Excuse me?"

"You didn't come here to get away from your problems; you came here on a mission."

"And you know this how?"

"Forget about that," Hanson snapped. "Tell us what really happened instead of lying your way out of here."

I was still in shock that Parkman knew I was lying. I didn't know whether it was my expression or my voice that gave it away, but it wasn't in the ordinary. He somehow knew I was coming on a mission. It was clear a simple lie didn't pass by these people.

"Fine, but please don't think I'm crazy," I quietly begged. I closed my eyes. "My brother, my friend and I came with the intention on saving the cheerleader. We knew she was in danger and we wanted to save her."

I opened my eyes to find Hanson with suspicion in her eyes. "The cheerleader is dead. How would you even know she was in danger in the first place?" she questioned.

I shook my head. "She's not dead, she's alive. Peter saved her."

"Jackie Wilcox was found dead on the floor with her head cut open in the girls' locker room. Your DNA happened to be there too. Were you an accomplice to this killer or did you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"The second one."

"But how did you know she was in danger?" Hanson repeated.

My mouth opened, but no words came out. I couldn't say anything else without revealing what I truly was or what I was involved in.

"I have a right to stay silent," I muttered.

"That you do, but we'll get answers out of you whether you talk or not." Her head nodded towards Parkman.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Parkman giving me an intense stare. My mind flashed to the first time I realized I was special. The men I was running from were giving me the same stare. Realization hit me: were these the same people out to get her?

"Her brother told her about a series of paintings that led up now," Parkman summarized.

My mouth dropped open. "How did you know that?"

"Who was the artist?" Hanson demanded.

Parkman opened his mouth to say something, but I got in the way. "Were you guys the reason why I disappeared for a few days?"

"What are you talking about?" the agent looked at me puzzled.

"I was abducted and I don't remember a thing!" I yelled. "All I remember is leaving my brother's apartment and the next thing I know I'm waking up in my room with this."

I pulled the collar of my jacket down, revealing the mark on the side of my neck. The entire room went silent. Both Hanson and Parkman stared at my mark with unreadable expressions. It was as if they had encountered the mark before and had no experience whatsoever on how to handle the situation.

Parkman was the first to speak. "We didn't abduct you."

I let go of my shirt. "How do I know you're not lying?"

"Because the same thing happened to me." He opened his collar of his jacket to reveal the same mark on his neck. "And at least one other person that I know of."

I didn't know what to say. I wasn't alone—that was for sure.

"Are you…?"

I expected the question to come. I should've suspected something the minute he said something I didn't.

I sighed. "Well are you?"

_Slam!_ All of our heads snapped toward the front of the room where I saw Nathan standing.

"Excuse me, sir, this is a private interrogation," Hanson scolded.

The point didn't sink in for Nathan. "Not anymore. You're not authorized."

"And the hell am I not—!"

"Danielle is a minor and therefore she cannot be interrogated without parent or guardian supervision."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Nathan Petrelli, her brother. By law, I have the right to decline for Danielle to be questioned."

Nathan quickly strode towards me.

"We're not finished here," she sneered at Nathan.

"Yes, you are." Nathan pulled me up by the arm. "C'mon Danielle, we're leaving."

I wasn't given much of a choice to rebel (despite the amount of pain he was giving my shoulder) as Nathan nearly dragged me out of the room. He continued to pull me down the hall until we arrived at a spot to where there was no one around.

"What did I tell you about seeing Peter?" Nathan gave me a harsh stare.

"_You_ didn't tell me anything," I remarked. "You told Peter to stay away from me—not the other way around."

"You're lucky I was able to get Cole and you out. Do you have any idea how dangerous that stunt was that you did?"

"Peter was the one who fell off the building, not me."

"But you were still the one to go after a suicide mission," he argued.

"It wasn't a suicide mission!" I protested. "The cheerleader needed our help. If I wasn't in that locker room at that time I don't know what would've happened to her."

"You saw who did it?"

"Not exactly…it was too dark."

"Did he hurt you?"

I bit my lip. "Can we talk about something else?"

He suddenly grasped my arm once again, using his other hand to feel around my shoulder. When I winced, he pulled down one side of my jacket. I glanced quick enough to see a large purple bruise on my shoulder.

Nathan released me. "What happened?"

"He threw me against a wall of lockers when I jumped on him," I briefly explained.

"Why did you jump on him?"

"He was killing Jackie."

"So the cheerleader's dead."

"No," I said. "He killed the wrong one. Peter saved the real one."

Nathan's head bent down to mine. "Danielle, you can't be involved with this anymore. You're first field trip could've killed you. This is what we're going to do: we're going home and you're going to forget what happened."

He made it sound so easy. It had only been hours ago that I witnessed life depart from someone's eyes and he wanted forget about it. I wanted nothing more than to return to the way things were before, but there was still a task at hand. The murderer was still out there. It would only be a matter of time until Claire was in danger once again.

"I can't," I choked out.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"I can't. Claire's still in trouble—he's still out there. I have to help."

"No, you don't." He backed away. "You're sixteen years old; you need to have a normal life."

"Why do you care so much all of the sudden? You never did before."

"I'm your brother. I've always cared for your wellbeing," he said, comfort in his voice.

A thought occurred to me. "Wait…you're doing this for your campaign, aren't you? I bet you haven't told anyone that you left for Odessa. Did you happen to fly yourself here, Nate?"

Nathan ignored my accusation. Instead, he pushed something into my arms. "I was able to get this from the station. Everything's still in there."

I looked down, finding my messenger bag there.

"I couldn't get Peter out as easily," he continued. "So we'll be here for a while until I do. Cole's in the waiting room with his brother, if you want to meet him there."

"You called his brother?"

"I didn't, the station did. Remember you're not just putting your own life in danger."

Nathan walked away, leaving me to hug my messenger bag. I couldn't imagine what lies Cole would have to say to his brother to cover up this mess. He had to lie…He had to lie for me. He had to commit the crime I was exactly against for me. After wrapping the shoulder strap around my neck, I made my way to the waiting room.

Cole was exactly where Nathan had said. He sat in the waiting room alone in his own row of chairs. I sat in the chair next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey," I said. "I heard about your brother being here. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Jack just left to get us coffee before he drives me to the airport to take me back to New York."

The conversation didn't seem to rest well with Jack, according to Cole's monotone voice.

"I am so sorry, Cole," I told him. "If I didn't let you come along, you wouldn't be in this much trouble."

Cole looked up at me. "I'm not grounded, if that's what you think. Jack promised not to tell my parents, but I know that he's still going to hold it against me."

"This is all my fault. I shouldn't have gone with Peter. He would've been fine anyway."

"No. You went because you were being a good sister and supporting him. I went because I wanted to make sure you made it out okay. Danni, forget about the aftermath for a minute and focus on what we accomplished: you and Peter saved the cheerleader."

"Peter saved the cheerleader, not me," I corrected him.

"You both did. Your helping hand guided Claire to get out there. It's not as epic as falling five stories, but it's pretty big."

"Danni?" a soft voice came from beside me.

There was no doubt I recognized the voice. I turned my head to make sure it was true. It was. Claire stood in front of me, smiling. This time instead of being covered in blood though, her blond hair was freshly cleaned and her face expressed relief.

I shot up to my feet. "Claire…you're okay."

"Yeah, thanks to you and Peter."

"I knew you came out alive, but they told me a cheerleader was dead so they caught me off guard a little bit."

"It's okay."

Another voice joined in. "Excuse me, let me introduce myself. I'm Claire's father."

A man in horned-rimmed glasses held out his hand. I paused before shaking his hand. He seemed strangely familiar yet I couldn't remember who he was.

"I'm Danni," I told him. "And this is my friend, Cole. It's nice to meet you, Mr.…"

"Bennet," he smiled.

"Mr. Bennet."

"I'd like to personally thank you for saving my daughter's life. I owe you."

I shook my head. "Nah, Peter was the one who did all of the saving. I was just helping out."

"Well, if you ever need me to help you out with something, let me know."

"Dad," Claire spoke. "Can you give us a minute?"

Mr. Bennet patted her on the back. "Sure."

I turned to Cole. "I'll just be a minute, okay?"

"Take as long as you need," Cole gave a small smile. "I'll fend Nathan off if he comes over."

"Thanks, you're the best."

I led Claire deeper down the row of chairs and sat down, facing her. "So what was so important you wanted to talk to me about that you couldn't say in front of your dad?"

"Are you different too? Like me."

For a moment, I thought about lying, but it wouldn't be fair on her. "Yes. I can fly, run fast, jump very high and control the air. Cole's kind of compared me to Aang from _The Last Airbender_, if you really want to know what it is since I don't know the name for what I can do."

"How long have you known?" Claire asked.

"About few weeks or so. How about you?"

"Same. How did you handle it?"

"Not well," I said bluntly. "Cole and Peter were the first to admit it before I did, but after I realized they were right…I didn't feel like me anymore. But I didn't feel so alone either. Peter there to sympathize with me and Cole was there with me no matter what."

"Cole's your boyfriend, right?"

"No. Don't listen to Peter when he says something like that. Cole and I happen to be very good friends and everyone assumes we're together."

Claire smiled guiltily. "Oh, I'm sorry I—"

"It's okay. You didn't know."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen. What about you?"

"Fifteen, but I'll be sixteen soon."

My eyes widened. "Wow, I didn't know we were that close in age."

"Me either. That's why I had to ask."

"You're a cheerleader and I'm a dancer: two very similar things."

Claire sighed. "So, do you know why saving me meant saving the world?"

"I don't know, Claire. I'm new to this too. All I know is that some guy from the future came to Peter telling him that same message. Apparently we'll have to do what he says."

"I'm so confused. I don't know what I have to do with the world and why I am what I am. Do you think that there's a reason why we're like this? If there's some kind of purpose for us?"

I couldn't find myself to answer Claire's question because those were the same ones I had. It seemed that I had more in common with the cheerleader than I would have ever thought. The same feelings of loneness and confusion constantly ran through our systems, and both of us tried to forget we were different from the others.

A hand rested on Claire's shoulder. "Claire, we should get going."

Claire glanced up to her father. "Just one more second, okay?"

"All right, I'll be waiting over there."

Claire nodded as Mr. Bennet walked away. Her head then turned back to me expectantly. To answer her question, I decided to do what my mom would do: try to give her as much comfort as I could.

"Claire," I said. "I can't answer your question since I don't know the answer myself. But I can say you're not alone in this. I'm going through the motions too and even with Peter and Cole by my side, my head is still trying to wrap itself what's going on right now. Take it one step at a time and things will get better."

"How do you know if…?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. So let's try out that piece of advice together and see how it works out."

Nodding, Claire stood up. "I should go. I'm probably keeping my dad waiting too long."

"Go ahead, don't let me keep you."

"Thank you, again. I know you think you didn't do much to help, but you really did."

Claire walked back to her father before I could answer her. She was special (and not because of her power). Somehow she had the ability to make the room brighter with her smile and her down-to-earth personality. Her last words forced a warm feeling inside of me—a feeling I had not expected nor wanted when I came with Peter to Odessa.

Cole came to sit next to me. "So, how'd it go?"

I grinned. "Better than I would have thought. She's definitely not one of you stereotypical cheerleaders."

"She didn't appear that way to me anyway. What did you guys talk about?"

"I told her I was special and she asked about the whole 'save the cheerleader, save the world' thing. I couldn't say anything, but I did tell her to take it one step at a time."

Cole smirked. "Wait, you're smiling. I haven't seen that in a while."

"I guess talking to someone who's going through something similar can make you feel better inside—not so alone."

"Well I'm happy you got to have a full conversation with her. Both of you needed it." Cole reached into his pocket and took out his phone. He looked at the screen for a brief moment. "I gotta go. Jack has the coffee and our plane leaves in an hour."

"I guess I'll see you in New York then. Good luck with Jack."

Cole got up from his seat. "Don't worry about me and Jack. I'm worried about you and Nathan more than anything else."

"I already received the lecture, but then again the man does like to lecture."

"Well then I'll bid good luck to thee as well."

I rolled my eyes. "Did you really have to go Shakespeare on me?"

"What can I say? It's a habit. Call me as soon as you get back."

"That's if my phone doesn't get taken away, but in some way or form I will let you know."

He turned to leave. "See you then, Dan."

"See you." I gave a small wave.

I ended up sitting in that same chair for a good five hours. During which time Nathan was trying to bail Peter out. The only entertainment I received that day was getting up to get food and listening to the drunken kid they caught driving. Although I still had many thoughts lingering in my mind. Specifically about my interrogation period and the man who nearly murdered Claire. Parkman was just like me in respect of losing a few days of memory. Nathan almost ended up in the same place, but more people would have noticed because of who he was compared to a rowdy teenager like me and a police officer like Parkman. Two things I was certain about: this has happened to various people and they were doing a very good job of being inconspicuous.

I also knew the murderer I had encountered the night before wasn't involved with this. As with any other serial killer, he had common trait with his victims. He came to Union Wells High School on a mission: to steal Claire's ability (granted he thought Jackie was the one, but he still wanted her ability nonetheless). No one didn't have to tell me that this wasn't the first time he had committed a crime of murder—Charlie's case proved that very well. The murderer would strike again. He was still out there and so was Claire. I could only pray she would escape his grasp once again.

My coconsciousness slowly began to drift as the day continued to wear on, but I was quickly interrupted by a hoarse voice.

"Danielle," it said.

My eyes fluttered open to find Nathan staring down at me. "Why do you always have to ruin my peaceful state of mind?" I groaned.

"I finally got Peter out. We're getting him out of his cell and we're leaving this madness."

I jumped up to my feet at the sound of Peter's name. "I wish. After this I don't think I can go back to the way things were before."

"You will. That's not even a question."

Resisting every temptation to talk back, I followed Nathan deeper into the police station. Not one word was exchanged as the police man led us to Peter's cell. Relief came over me when I saw Peter through the clear glass door of his cell.

I nearly ran to Peter when the police man opened the door, but Nathan stopped me. "You stay here."

Nathan entered the cell before I could rebel.

Peter, to say the least, was surprised. "What are you doing here, Nathan?"

Nathan tossed a zip-lock bag filled with Peter's belongings to him. "Let's go."

Nathan strode out of the room as fast as he entered. Peter and I followed after him.

"Aren't you going to ask what happened?" Peter questioned.

"I know what happened," Nathan replied harshly. "You got yourself in trouble. You nearly got yourself killed involving Danielle and Cole in the middle of it all."

"No, no, no, I saved a girl."

"Had to be a hero, didn't you?"

"Well you obviously weren't going to do anything about it," I spat at Nathan.

Nathan was the least affected by my comment. "Did you both get it out of your systems now?"

"I finally get it now, Nathan," said Peter. "I have these dreams, and when I'm around someone with an ability I can do what they can do."

"You look like hell."

I scoffed. "I think the term you're looking for is 'war hero'. You didn't see the guy that was attacking that girl."

"You too, Danielle. Peter, she's got a bruise the size of Texas thanks to you."

"Don't blame him, all right? I'm the one who decided to jump on the guy's back."

We soon came out of the police station with dark night sky towering over us.

Peter continued despite our dispute. "And I was with that girl. And I was with that guy trying to kill that girl, and this cop, I think he was trying to read my mind. They were all like us."

"Dysfunctional?" Nathan mumbled.

He began to wobble as we walked down the stairs. "No, they…Nathan I have to stop that bomb. I have to save everybody."

"Right now I'd settle for you walking straight."

I slowly watched as Peter collapsed the ground. Nathan and I dashed over to his limp body in an attempt for him to awaken.

Nathan held Peter's head in his arms. "Pete, c'mon."

"Peter, please wake up," I begged. "You did this before, c'mon!"

"What do you mean before?"

"When he fell five stories last night…if it wasn't for that girl then he would be dead now."

Thankfully he wasn't out as long as last time. Peter soon coughed out his breath.

"Easy. Easy. It's all right," Nathan soothed his brother. "It's all right. It's all right."

"It's all my fault," he panted. "The explosion."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's me."

"Peter, what explosion?" I asked.

Nathan grabbed Peter's chin gently. "Breathe. C'mon, Peter. Breathe. Peter! Peter!"

My heart's pace quickened. Peter's eyes weren't closed like they would usually be whenever someone passed out. They were wide open as was his mouth.

"Peter, wake up now!" I screamed. "Please, don't do this now!"

Nathan yelled at the bystanders. "Somebody, go get help!"

Tears welled up in my eyes, slowly streaming down my cheeks. "Peter…please, don't go. I'm scared."

I didn't want to be alone with what I was dealing with. There was more to the story than just saving cheerleader. Peter knew something I didn't and that's where my true fear came: would this ever end?

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! The next few chapters are not going to have that many scenes from the show since it's the in between of the story. Danni and Cole will be returning to New York to deal with the drama there.<p>

~Emyrox567


	12. Missing Piece

Missing Piece

Two weeks. It had been exactly two weeks since Peter collapsed suddenly without any explanation. He wasn't dead…at least not yet. Currently, he's been under a coma and his condition everyday worsens. Some days I wonder if he's really alive or someone is putting up the illusion that he still had his beating heart. These past two weeks have been numb for me. I returned back to school upon Nathan's request, but unlike what he wanted, I didn't forget the events of two weeks prior.

How could I? Peter was in the hospital because of our detour. Yes, I didn't know the exact reason why he collapsed out of random yet I knew it had to do with being different. Before passing out, Peter claimed he had something to do with an explosion. Of course he didn't care to explain what this explosion stood for leaving me utterly confused at what he meant—

"Danni."

My eyes averted from my desk to my English teacher, Mr. Barnes. "Yes?"

"Class is over…well school is over now. You can go."

"Oh." I looked up at the clock. Did I even hear the bell? Oh, well.

I began gathering my belongings.

"Actually," he coughed. "I would like to have a word with you."

I swung my messenger bag over my shoulder and headed over to his desk. "What do you need to speak to me about? Did I do something wrong?"

"No. It's about your daily poems. They're quite impressive though I did take note on the subject of them lately."

Mr. Barnes made the class write a poem for a least the first ten minutes of class as a way of engaging us in his lesson.

I raised an eyebrow. "And that subject would be?"

"Anxiety and worry. I've sensed that a lot in your poems in the past couple weeks. They're wonderfully written don't get me wrong, but considering the circumstances…I'm concerned."

"By circumstances you mean my brother being in the hospital, right?"

"Partially…I am aware that you were with Peter when he collapsed. I understand this can be traumatizing for you and…"

"What exactly is your point here?"

"You're falling a bit behind on your school work; your personality's changed slightly, and all of this began the week you missed school."

I rolled my eyes. "I know where you're going with this: you think I'm going into a depression. I'm not surprised though, a lot of people thought the same thing when my mom died. Anyway, I'm fine…a little worried but I'm fine. By the way, I'm not involved with drugs if you're gonna go to that conclusion too."

Mr. Barnes held up his hands defensively. "I'm not assuming that you're under a depression or dealing with drugs. All I said was that I was concerned. I've seen this happen to many students and a sometimes all they need is an open ear."

"Thanks, but I think I'm good."

"Well if anything becomes overwhelming, know that you have a whole staff of teachers who will be willing to listen."

"Sorry for interrupting," a voice said from the doorway.

Mr. Barnes turned to Cole. "It's all right, Cole. What do you need?"

"I came for Danni actually. If she wants to make it to dance rehearsal on time today, then Danni needs to get going now."

Mr. Barnes smirked teasingly at me. "Well, you heard the man. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye, Mr. Barnes," I nodded.

Mr. Barnes wasn't the first teacher to express their concern for me. Worry and anxiety alone were causing me to fall behind on my school work. With Peter being in that hospital, I couldn't think what I would do if his heart stopped beating one day. We've taken him to the best doctors anyone can buy, but they can't figure out what's wrong with him. So now, he's slowly getting worse and there's nothing nobody can do.

I walked with Cole to dance rehearsals. He had been keeping tabs with me since I returned to New York. Believe it or not, he was around more often than usual. Sometimes he even resorted to having me stay the night at his house when I was his definition of overly emotional (Jack sure got a kick out of that). And as he's doing now, Cole walked me to dance rehearsals and stuck around until the end. I'll admit: it got on my nerves sometimes, but it was sweet what he was doing.

As soon as I changed into my sweats in the locker room, I ran with Cole to the theater. I was late…again. Dylan would be sure to hold that against me.

We entered from the front of the theater as discrete as we could. Well, that attempt failed. Everyone's head from the stage turned to us.

I ran down the aisle. "Sorry I'm late guys."

"And she says that every time." I heard a faint mumble.

I knew it wasn't Dylan…unless his voice decided to sound feminine. Besides he wouldn't try to so hard to be discrete about it. I threw my bag to the front row of seats and jumped on the stage as Cole took a seat.

"Were you making out with your boyfriend, Petrelli?" Dylan asked with his usual obnoxious voice.

I shook my head. "No, but I saw you making out with your girlfriend in the hall today. Care to explain why she's not deformed?"

He coughed nervously. "Okay…back to business. What were we talking about again?"

"Well before Danni decided to distract us, we were talking about what to do for sectionals," a strawberry blond haired girl said snidely.

I may have lied when I said I never had any enemies in high school, but yet I wouldn't call Brooke Hampton my enemy. I simply ignored her attempts to get under my skin. I found them pathetic and juvenile. Brooke joined the dance team sophomore year expecting to be captain because of her experience from the cheer squad. That didn't happen and now she's taking out her anger on me.

I noticed something out of place. "Where's Coach Montgomery? Shouldn't we been discussing this with her if we're talking about sectionals?"

"Coach texted that she would be late and to start the conversation without her," Dylan briefly explained. "Anyway, so what do you guys think we should do?"

"Well, we have to do a dance as a group, right?" Natalie spoke up from behind Brooke. "So I suggest we should figure what music we are playing before we organize the routine."

"All right, what songs do you suggest then?"

"What about _Crazy in Love_ by Beyoncé?" a girl named Hanna suggested.

Dylan shook his head. "That sounds more like a partner dance than a group one."

"_Get the Party Started _by Pink," said Brooke. "That's a group type of song."

"Yeah, but the cheerleaders already used that one at the last football game."

"That means it'll be easier to come up with the routine. We'll just take some inspiration off of their routine and work it out from there."

Hanna crossed her arms. "Like taking inspiration off of my math test?"

I wasn't the only one who had a problem with Brooke, but unlike the cheer squad at my school, the dance team didn't bother to hide it.

Brooke only smiled at Hanna. "I told you there was a better word for it besides cheating."

Hanna opened her mouth to argue, but Dylan stopped them. "Forget this for a few seconds and concentrate on what we have to do for sectionals."

An idea for a song came into my mind. "What about _Let's Get It Started _by the Black-Eyed-Peas? It'd be perfect for the hip-hop thing we're trying to accomplish here."

Of course Brooke had to steal my thunder. "Don't we have a policy for those who are late cannot speak?"

"No," Dylan stared down her defiantly. "We don't. Danni's idea actually sounds pretty good."

"Excuse me?" Brooke was taken aback. "Danni's been late for the past two weeks. She shouldn't get a say in anything we do!"

"And what's the difference between you and her? You act like you're queen of the world every time you come in here. If it were up to me, you'd be off this team by now. At least when she comes here, Danni giving it all she's got."

I stood there frozen. Did Dylan just defend me?

"Of course you support the charity case," Brooke laughed harshly.

I crossed my arms. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Petrelli," she stared right into my eyes. "The only reason the Petrelli family even bothered to adopt you was because they felt bad for you."

"Oh, please." I rolled my eyes. "Tell me something I don't know. Keep going."

"Fine. The students and the teachers of this school think you're suicidal. They think you're the one who tried to commit suicide a month ago, not your brother."

"I highly doubt that. I may be negative most of the time, but I don't think about suicide. At least I'm not bringing people down for my personal gain."

"It's better than being that lonely girl you've always been. Think about it: Cole only hangs out with you because he feels bad for you. Your mom's dead and your foster family hates you. You're nothing."

"I think that's enough, Brooke," Dylan glared at her.

I held up hand. "It's okay, Dylan. If you don't mind, I'm going to miss practice today."

I turned away from Brooke, heading towards the edge of the stage.

"I'd be careful, Petrelli," Brooke shouted from behind me. "Your depression could send a vibe to everyone around you—especially Peter. That's probably the reason why he tried to commit suicide in the first place. He most likely tried it again two weeks ago to get away from you."

I could have let her go if she had stopped, but her last words made me snap.

Her words were slow and agonizing. "You're the reason why he's dying."

I spun around, charging to Brooke with my hand curled into a large fist. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

Within a second, I was in front of Brooke again. She looked at me wide-eyed as if she didn't expect my reaction to end in disaster. I lifted my fist higher, ready to give her the sense she deserved, but I a force stopped me. I looked up to Cole who held my fist firmly.

He looked at me with calm eyes. "Forget it, Danni. She's not worth it."

My gaze shifted from Cole to Brooke. Since when did I ever come to this conclusion when dealing with my problems? Had waiting in anxiety for Peter's awakening or death put me in an unexplainable place? My English teacher was right. Something was off about me ever since I came back from Odessa. From being abducted to running from a mysterious killer, I never put my character back in check.

I withdrew my fist from Cole's hand. "You're right. She's not worth it."

"I think you should go see Peter. It'll be the best thing you can do for the both of you." Cole held out my messenger bag.

"What about rehearsal though?"

"I'll tell Coach you called in sick," Dylan spoke.

Then I said two words I barely said to him. "Thank you."

I even added a smile for looks. Me smiling at Dylan Harris? I really needed to see Peter. Maybe his presence would set my mind straight.

Jack gave Cole and me a ride to the hospital shortly after my encounter with Brooke. Traffic, thankfully, wasn't that heavy since it was an hour before people generally got off work. I had visited Peter in the hospital plenty of times at the hospital (once a day specifically), but this time seemed different. It was as if I didn't see him now, I would never get another chance to see Peter again.

Jack pulled up into the front curb of the hospital. "This is as far as I can take you. I have to run and meet a friend for studying, so out you go. Give Peter my best."

I went to open the car door, but Cole grasped my wrist. "I'll go with her too."

"No, Cole. Danni needs to see Peter on her own."

"I can wait in the waiting room."

"It's okay if he comes with me, Jack," I said to Cole's older brother. "I'll need a friend too."

"Fine, but I'm not coming back to pick you up until nine or so," Jack sighed. "If you want earlier, you have to take the bus."

Cole shrugged. "It's cool with me. I'll call you if there's a change of plans."

"Cool. Danni, don't let this guy be the stalker he's been for the past couple weeks."

I let out a small laugh as I opened the door. "I'll try."

After we had said our final goodbyes, Cole and I rushed into the hospital. This probably had to be the millionth time I had been inside this place. Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if any of the nurses knew my name by heart. One nurse actually greeted me when I got off the elevator to Peter's floor, but that was because I was visiting Peter quite often and not of my injuries.

As Cole promised, he went off into the waiting room as I headed straight to Peter's room. I came into the room nearly out of breath. It wasn't until then I realized how fast I was going. I still had no idea why I was so compelled to see him.

I slowly walked over to Peter. He stayed content with a few breaths of snores escaping his mouth and beeping monitors singing around him. I almost believed he was at peace for once—somewhere I wanted to be now.

"You're rather early today."

I spun around to face Angela, slightly startled. "I decided not to go to rehearsal today. I needed a break."

Angela got up from her seat and made her way towards where I was. As expected, I wasn't the only one who made daily visits to Peter. Angela and Nathan were around here longer than I was (due to school and rehearsal) desperately waiting for Peter to wake up.

"If you want a break, then I suggest getting away from this place," she said to me. "It's been two weeks and these doctors have no idea what they're doing."

"Peter will come through. He always does," I mumbled.

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?"

"I don't know…I'm just worried about Peter."

Angela threw me an emotionless expression. "This is why I never had a daughter of my own. They're too complicated."

Again, I couldn't understand if Angela meant that as an insult to me or it was simply an opinion she felt to share with me. Either way, I was curious.

"Then why bother with me?" I asked her. "I'm literally the definition of complicated."

"You're different."

I didn't have a response for that. Being different had a whole new concept to me these days.

She adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder. "I'm going to get coffee while I leave you and Peter alone."

I said nothing as she left the room. Whether she cared for me or not still puzzled me to this day. My mom once said: "Figuring out someone cares about you shouldn't be a mystery; it should come as easy as riding a bike." I knew for sure Cole and Peter cared for me, but as for Nathan and Angela, it was an emotional roller coaster ride. At least the space between Angela and I kept the memory of my mother alive.

I gently caressed Peter's cheek. "Hey Pete, how are you?"

As usual, he didn't respond.

"Well…I'm okay…I guess," I continued. "Everyone thinks I'm going under some depression or something because I've been worried sick about you. I almost punched a girl today because she said that I was the reason why you tried to jump off that building in the first place." I bit my lip. "She was kind of right. If I only, at the least, pretended to believe you about that dream then you wouldn't have jumped, I never would have had my concussion and everything would still be in order."

A tear ran down my cheek. "Who am I kidding? All of this still would have happened regardless if you jumped off the building or not. What we did was crazy, Peter. I can't even believe I agreed to it and brought Cole down with me. I still can't believe I am what I am. I want all of this to end, but I still feel like there's something missing."

"What aren't you telling me, Peter?" I quietly begged. "What explosion were you talking about and what do you have to do with it? What do Claire and I have to do with it? I'm scared more than anything else. Scared for me, Claire, Nathan, and you. What if you don't make it? How am I supposed to go on with this without you?"

A pair of hands rested on my shoulders. "Shh…It's going to be okay."

"How?" I answered the soothing voice. "Peter's almost dead and a serial killer is still on the loose."

"You're still here, that's how I know things are okay."

I had no idea what suddenly came over me then. The tears I was holding back flowed down to my cheeks and my breathing became quick and deep. The hands that were holding me spun my body around allowing it to crash onto Cole's chest.

"I'm scared," I breathed out. "What if he comes after me too?"

Cole ran hand through my hair. "I won't let him. I promise, I'll protect you as much as I can."

My only response was a small sob. "I don't want him to die. I don't want to be alone again."

"You're not alone. You still have me."

I tried to calm myself down as Cole cradled me. I'll admit I was being pathetic at that point in time, but all of my mixed emotions were suddenly rushing toward me. I was drowning and the last thing I needed was for someone I deeply cared for to die on me, again. Dealing with one death was hard enough; I didn't want to go through another.

Cole and I didn't speak another word to each other for the rest of my consciousness. The last remembered was Cole leading me to the chairs nearby. I stayed in the safety of his arms, slowly letting my eyes close. I was at peace for once.

It was only a few moments after which I felt a hand brush my cheek. At that time I thought I was only dreaming, so I didn't do anything to investigate the intimate moment with the stranger.

"I love you," the angelic voice whispered to be before a kiss was placed on my forehead.

I almost woke up at that, but I continued to believe it was only a dream. I shifted myself in a comfortable position, allowing my sleep to become deeper.

The slumber didn't last as long as I would have liked it. I soon felt myself being violently shaken awake.

"Danielle," the voice practically screamed. "You need to wake up!"

I woke up with a start. "What the hell, Angela! If Peter can sleep for two weeks, why can't I sleep for few minutes?"

My foster mother ignored the question. "Where is Peter?"

"Are you blind? He's sleeping in that hospital bed since he collapsed."

"Not anymore," Cole mumbled next to me.

I looked beyond Angela's wary expression and to the hospital bed. For a moment I wanted Peter to be there silently sleeping as had been every time I had stepped into this room, but he was gone this time. I swept over to the bed in an instant. My hand grasped the unmade sheets as if there was a slightest hope he would be under them. He was gone…and without saying goodbye.

I turned to face Angela, holding back as many tears as I could. "What happened?"

"He woke up in cold sweat," she told me. "He was screaming saying he needed to get away. I tried to tell him that he needed to get some rest, but he continued to think he needed to save the world from himself. I left to go get the doctor, but he was gone by the time I came back."

"He was screaming…and I didn't hear him?"

"You were sleeping, Danni," Cole pointed out to me. "You haven't gotten that much sleep in a long time actually which explains why you were a pretty heavy sleeper."

"I could have stopped him."

"But would you?" Angela questioned. "You sure didn't stop him from going on that suicide mission in Odessa. I'm pretty sure you would have gone with him, if invitation arose."

I gritted my teeth. "Shut up. You don't know anything."

"I know more than you think, Danielle. I am your mo—!"

"Don't you even call yourself that! You are not my mother and you are nothing like her." I narrowed my eyes at her. "You've never cared for me unless either Peter or Nathan are involved. Most days, it feels like I'm just a fly on the wall. All I ask is why. Why do you even bother when you know you don't care about me?"

Angela contained her calm expression. "You need to get some sleep, Danielle. All of this has made you uneasy."

"Please don't act like you know me. I don't even know who I am nowadays."

"Danielle, you need to get home now."

I stormed past her. "Gladly."

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! Sorry it took so long to update. Hopefully the next chapter doesn't take too long to get out. Follow me on twitter for updates and review please!<p>

~Emyrox567


	13. The Solution to Every Problem

The Solution To Every Problem

I didn't even return home that night. The sight of Angela alone made me yell in rage. How dare she try to act like my mother when she doesn't care enough for me in the first place? I understood this was a difficult time for her as well, but she didn't have to smother it all on me. Anyway, Cole allowed me to stay at his house for the night. He didn't question why I lashed out on Angela. Instead he tried to get my mind off of what was unfolding in front of us. I slept in the guest room that night (as I usually did) at more unrest than when Peter was in his coma. I tried various times to call him, but no answer came. I worried he would allow himself to die as he did for the cheerleader.

I was wide awake that morning with my phone gripped in my hand. Peter could be anywhere doing anything and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I soon heard the door open.

"Hey, are you up?" Cole's voice asked.

"I have been all night," I replied in low voice.

"Listen, if I know Peter, he wouldn't just do this out of random. He must have had a legitimate reason for bailing like that."

I sat up to face him. "That's what's bothering me, Cole. I've been trying to figure out what he left for and why he thinks he's a danger to the world."

"OK, one step at a time. First he had to save the cheerleader, now I think he has to save the world."

"How? I have a hard time seeing why Claire is the key to saving the world."

"Me too, but I think I know one person who can help us." From his back pocket he pulled out a rolled up copy of 9th Wonders. "Isaac Mendez started this so I believe he knows how to end it."

"Are you suggesting that we actually go see this guy?"

"I don't see how else we'll get in touch with him. Every comic book has his studio address on the back. Peter saw this guy before we went off to Odessa. Maybe we can get some information out of him."

"I don't know, Cole. It sounds a little crazy to just go up to a stranger's doorstep and ask them all of these weird questions. Besides, we don't even know if he'll talk to us."

"I don't see why he wouldn't," he grinned. "You are the star in one of his comics, _Air Maiden_."

I shook my head. "No, he'll slam the door in our faces once he sees me."

"I highly doubt that. If he's as much of a comic book geek as me, he'll listen to you."

The proposition sounded intriguing yet I was having second thoughts about it. I could see why though. It was an opportunity for me to finally get my answers I had been searching for. I guess that was what I was afraid of. The answers weren't usually the greatest sweet truths of them all. The encounter would either ease my worries or bring them to a new height.

"But what about school?" I questioned. "The attendance office will notice we ditched and they will call your mom and Angela."

"So what? I'll tell my mom I was on a field trip and the attendance forgot to account for that."

"I really don't want you to lie to your parents because of me. I'll go by myself. It's my business anyway."

"No." He almost snapped at me. "I am not leaving you alone again. The last time I did that you disappeared off the face of this earth. I'm coming with you."

"That wasn't your fault," I told him firmly. "It was the people who decided who abduct me."

"But I decided to leave you alone. I should have gone in there with you when you went to go see Peter."

"Forget about it. We are not arguing about this. The faster we get answers, the faster I can be done with this madness."

"I'll take that as a yes then." Cole grinned smugly. "I'll meet you downstairs once you're ready."

I scowled at his immaturity. He knew he could convince me to go to Isaac the minute he walked in the room, if he played his cards right. Well, I guess he learned from the best…namely me. I didn't care to bring an extra pair of clothes in my escape from the Petrelli household for the night, so I only put my hair in a ponytail, grabbed my bag, and went to meet Cole downstairs.

Cole and I traveled straight out of the door right when I arrived. Thankfully Cole looked up Isaac's address on MapQuest, so he knew which bus to take. I hoped this wouldn't be a day long trip. If we just spent an hour or two there I could easily slip past Nathan claiming I had slept in this morning. But that was merely hoping. I highly doubted I would get all the answers I wanted within the twenty four hours I had.

The bus arrived in the lower part of Manhattan sooner than I would have wanted. From there, Cole and I traveled along the streets, searching for the comic book artist's loft. It wasn't that much of a struggle to find the building Isaac resided in. As soon as we entered the building, all of my confidence suddenly melted into pure fear. What if he thought we were crazy? Would he even tell the truth of his ability?

I grasped Cole's arm. "Wait. We don't have to do this. We can find some other way to figure what Peter was going on about."

"No, we are not," said Cole firmly. "This is our best bet right now and I'm not about to let it pass me."

I left it at that. There was no point in trying to convince him otherwise. We were less than a few feet away from a man who had named me to be the Air Maiden.

Cole was the one to knock on the painter's door. I stood there in agony, waiting for anyone to open the door. I clenched my fists at the sound of pattering footsteps behind the closed door. Cole carefully uncurled one of my fists and placed his hand into mine. He then threw me a reassuring smile. Just like that my heart rate slowed and my nerves became calm.

The door swung open revealing, a dark skinned woman with curly brown hair and green eyes. I immediately recognized her as the woman Peter spoke to at Nathan's campaign dinner.

"Can I help you?" she asked us.

Cole was the first to make the introductions. "I'm Cole Bowman and this is my friend, Danni Petrelli. We're here to speak to Isaac Mendez."

"On what business?"

"We'd like to speak about a comic book that he wrote." Cole handed her the _Air Maiden_ comic book. "It's important that we speak to him."

She glanced at the comic book. "Look, if you want an autograph, I'll get him to sign this and let you be on your way."

"I'm sorry, but we need to talk to him—I need to talk to him," I nearly pleaded.

She turned her attention to me. "I knew I recognized you somewhere. You're Peter's sister, right?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"He showed me a picture of you one time. How's your brother? I know he's been the hospital under a coma for some time now."

I sighed. "He disappeared last night. Angela said that he woke up in a cold sweat, got up and left. That's why I'm here; I know he spoke to Isaac before we went off to Odessa so Cole figured that Isaac may know where Peter is."

"I'm not sure about that, but you're welcome to come inside and meet Isaac."

Cole must've known I was about to politely turn down the offer because he decided to reply before I could even open my mouth. "We'd love to."

"Great, I'll get some tea started for you and call for Isaac in the process." She moved from the door frame to make room for Cole and I get through. "I'm Simone Deveaux, in case you were wondering."

"It's nice to meet you, Simone," Cole smiled as he walked inside.

I wasn't as confident unfortunately. "Same here."

I followed Cole inside the loft. It was nothing I had expected an artist's loft to be. I imagined a clean wood floor loft filled with canvases and the light shining delicately on the loft. But it was nothing like the description I envisioned. Yes, the loft was filled with canvases. The floors were not made of wood but of grey concrete and the walls were constructed of grey concrete blocks. The room in itself was spacious enough to hold at least fifty people at a time.

After closing the front door, Simone led us down the small staircase and into the main core of the loft.

A voice came from the other room. "Who was at the door, Simone?"

"A couple of visitors I think you should see," she replied.

A man soon emerged from behind the wall. He was a tall muscular man with wavy brown hair and a few paint stains on his white T-shirt.

"Who are they?" he asked Simone.

"This is Danni Petrelli and Cole Bowman. They're here to get a few answers."

"I still don't know who they are."

Simone walked over to him, handing the comic book to the man. "Take a look at the cover and take a look at Danni. Don't tell me there isn't a resemblance."

The man studied the cover and glanced towards me. He seemed to be shocked that I came by but he didn't show any surprise I actually existed. "Wow…I'm going to have to start getting used to this."

"Me too," Simone smiled. "It seems like every day one of your comic book characters comes to your doorstep."

He strode over to me, holding out his hand. "I'm Isaac Mendez. I'm sorry about my rudeness…things have been crazy lately and it's hard to find someone to trust."

I shook his hand. "Yeah, I totally get it. Things have been crazy for me too."

"I know."

"I'll go get that tea started then." Simone began walking into the other room.

Isaac pointed to Cole. "Your name's Cole, right?"

Cole nodded. "Yeah."

"Wow. First Hiro, now you guys."

"You met Hiro?" I asked.

"Yeah, back in Odessa. He seemed pretty thrilled to meet me considering I wrote a comic book about him too. How did you know about Hiro?"

"My brother, Peter told me about him. He said Hiro was a time traveler."

"Oh, Peter," he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll be blunt with you, Danni. Peter is not my favorite person in the world."

I was about to ask why, but then I remembered Simone. It was clear Peter was attracted to Simone, but was Isaac attracted to her as well? Great, Peter was stupid enough to get himself stuck in a love triangle. I was already in a comic book, I didn't need to be _Twilight_.

"I'm not asking for your opinion on Peter," I told firmly. "Peter went missing last night after waking up from a comatose. A week before we went off to Odessa, he told me that he talked to you. Do you have the slightest idea as where he might be?"

"To save the cheerleader would be my guess, but as I've been informed…"

"She's already been saved," I finished.

"Exactly. Was there anything else he said that may lead to where he is?"

"My foster mom said that Peter woke up in a cold sweat claiming that he had to get away…that he needed to save the world from himself."

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

I shook my head. "I have no idea. Then a couple weeks ago, when he first collapsed, he talked about an explosion being all of his fault."

Recognition sparked in his eyes. "What exactly did he say?"

"The last words he choked out to me were, 'It's me.'"

Isaac froze for a moment. "I can't believe I couldn't see it at first."

"See what at first? What explosion was Peter talking about?"

"I'm assuming he didn't tell you everything."

"What exactly is everything?" I nearly begged. "Because I thought 'Save the cheerleader, save the world' was enough for me."

"Look down at the floor. The mural should say it all."

I glanced down at the surface below my feet. Large amounts of dark paint were stroked to reveal the buildings of New York, but as my eyes traveled up further the colors became brighter showing a depiction of a large cloud hovering over the city. I soon took in the mural in its entirety: a bright mushroom cloud gloomed over New York City. If Isaac was just an ordinary painter, I would think of this as a piece of art, but that wasn't the case. Isaac Mendez had the ability to paint the future. The mural on the floor…was the future.

This is exactly what Peter kept from me. The reason why the world needed to be saved. How could this get worse for me you ask? Peter thought he was source of the explosion. I couldn't say I agreed or disagreed with him, but I sure didn't want to believe the possible future this world faced.

"Danni, are you okay?" Cole took me from my trance.

I nodded facing Isaac. "Is this what's supposed to happen?"

"I'm sorry," Isaac answered in grim tone. "One night I got high and next thing I know I'm seeing explosion over New York in my head. The only way I can get rid of it is by painting it."

"It's not your fault…I just feel overwhelmed right now."

"I did too…and sometimes I still do. But we don't have time to feel overwhelmed. This explosion is going to happen and Peter is the cause of it."

"We don't know that yet." I shook my head. "He's had dreams like this before. They don't exactly turn out the way they appear."

"I understand that Peter is your brother, but you need to get it through your head. Peter is the reason why New York is going to explode."

"No…he wouldn't…he would never…"

"These are our powers we're talking about here, Danni. If I had the choice of being able to do this a month ago, we wouldn't be here talking. Peter can absorb other abilities and I think one day he's going to crack."

This was all too much. Learning that I could fly and saving the cheerleader was enough for me, but then came this apocalypse theory. Peter wasn't capable of hurting people. He spent four years of his life being the older brother I never had. I knew him almost better than I knew myself. I nearly broke down at the thought of Peter killing millions of lives. Why was Peter being punished compared to the man who tried to Claire and succeeded in killing many others?

Luckily, I managed to choke out a few words. "When is it—when is it going to happen?"

"I don't know. But there is a reason why I painted that mural and why you are standing here now. We can stop it."

"We?"

"Danni, you're equally important as everyone else is in this. You can give your part in saving the world."

"Saving the world?" I repeated. "As in stopping something tragic from happening? You have no idea how many times I wonder what I could have done to prevent my mother's death. But where were you when she died in a car crash or when I was sent to live with complete strangers for the next few years?"

"I understand you've been through a lot, but this our chance to make a difference. Imagine how many lives we can save."

I saw straight through his sugarcoated words. He was only trying to make the situation sound better.

"But in order to do that, we have get rid of Peter," I seethed. "It works out for everyone except Peter. That's exactly what happened to me after my mother died: sending me away worked out for everyone else, but me."

"You're making this too personal," said Isaac firmly. "I understand that your mother died and there's no way of completely recovering, but it's one life or a million lives we have to choose."

I tried to swallow the harsh truth down, but tears spilled out instead. What Isaac was true, but my rebuttals sounded like child begging not to go to bed.

Simone came out with a tray of coffee mugs making her way towards Cole and I. "Isaac, stop. You don't need to explain it any further."

"But she needs to know the damage her brother will cause," he argued.

"She's just a child, Isaac. Coming here took enough effort for her. She doesn't need a lecture." Simone handed me a coffee mug full of tea, while smiling at me. "Here you go."

"Thank you," I choked out.

Simone handed Cole a mug as well. "I'll go get a couple chairs from the kitchen so we can relax."

She left the room in silence. I could barely face Isaac as we waited for Simone to return. I attempted to look down at my feet, but my eyes met with the horrid mural. I quickly retreated from the painting and faced Cole. His expression was filled with worry. It was then I realized that he had not spoken a word during my dispute with Isaac. He probably had nothing to say to the ordeal. Cole knew Peter as well as I did…this was hard for him to take in as well.

Simone returned with four chairs for all of us to sit in. We organized it in a circle so it made it impossible to ignore each other's gazes. At first the only source of noise that was made was all of us quietly slurping down our tea. If it had been up to me completely, I would have left by now but something was keeping me here. I had to find out why before I left.

"So…" Simone spoke first. "Peter talked a lot about you, Danni. He really cares for you."

"I know," I replied. "I just wondered why he left without saying goodbye."

"I'm pretty sure he had his reasons, but the way he spoke about you was like a father speaking about his daughter. He said you were very open to say how you felt despite any glares you might receive, you were very stubborn and hard headed, you unconsciously build walls so you can push people away, but anybody who is worth your time can see how kind and compassionate you can be."

"He said all of that about me?"

"He showed me a picture of you and that's basically where the conversation started, but the point is, Peter cares about you. I can only expect that the only reason he left was to protect you."

"Then how come I'm hurting so much right now?" I choked. "I understand why he left, but why do I still feel this way?"

"You love him," Simone soothed. "I recently lost my father due to old age. I knew that it was his time to go, but sometimes I ask why too." She turned her gaze from me to Isaac. "The last thing we want to do, though, is go in it alone. Isaac, there is a reason why Danni came here today. Her being here shows that she's ready to take some part in this."

I stopped her before she could continue. "I don't know if I'm ready. You saw me break down when Isaac told me Peter was the bomb. Not to mention, Cole had to drag me here by my feet."

"But you're already involved. You went with Peter to save the cheerleader and now you're here speaking to us. Deep down, you want some sort of involvement."

"I'm sixteen. I have to go to school and to dance rehearsals on a daily basis. Not to mention the Fly-Boy Wannabe Congressman and the woman who calls herself my foster mother breathing down my neck. I can't be involved with this anymore."

Simone paused before speaking again. "I've read Isaac's comics before. It was a guilty pleasure of mine when my father was sick. He would have me read them to him as a way to distract him from what he was going through. They grew on me eventually…especially yours. I always admired how strong and brave you were to conquer the world even when the world seemed to be turned against you."

I smiled weakly at the ridiculous statement. "I think you've got the wrong girl. I don't want to conquer the world…I just want to get through my life and the reason why the world turned against me is because I turned against the world."

"No, you didn't," Cole argued. "Everything she just said is true. If you had turned your back on the world then we wouldn't be friends and you wouldn't love Peter as you do now. You went through the denial that you are as special as I know you are, you were abducted, you jumped on the back of a serial killer, and you overcame the loss of your mother. Yet through all of that, you're still here sitting in that seat. Don't say you're not strong, Danni." His blue eyes bore into mine. "Because I'm looking at you right now and I see the strongest person I've ever met."

I was speechless at Cole's speech. Did he really think that much of me? I know I didn't believe I was strong. I wasn't the Hulk or Superman that was for sure. Then again, I didn't think Peter thought highly of me either. Why I was here still puzzled me? Yes, I came to get answers but what that it? Was I looking for comfort for my brother's predicament or was I trying to find a way to turn off what was special about me?

For the first time in our conversation with Simone, Isaac finally spoke. "I understand how you're feeling right now. This whole thing is like the five stages of grief. There's denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and—"

"Acceptance," I interrupted. "I know. A therapist talked to me about that after my mom died. She said the process was the same but it's not actually a speedy recovery."

"Exactly. It doesn't just deal with grief though. Psychologists say that it can be applied to traumatic experiences or a sudden change in your life. Some skip to stage five but most start from stage one. I'd say you're in stage four right now, so you're right when you say you're not ready."

"Is there a confused stage?"

"No, but my suggestion is that you should come back when you have accepted that you're special."

"That's going to be in, like, a million years," I looked at him skeptically.

Isaac shrugged. "However long it takes. It took rehabilitation and a few hits in the head for me to finally accept who I was. If it takes a million years for you, then so be it."

"I guess we're done here then?"

"Only if you want to be."

Picking up my bag from the floor, I stood up from my seat. "We should probably get back to school. It's already suspicious enough that I didn't make it home last night."

"Well you have to do what you have to do. I'm not going to tell you any different."

I gave a short nod as Isaac led Cole and me to the door. Before he opened the door, though, he paused for a moment.

Isaac turned to us with curious eyes. "Did you really jump on the back of a serial killer?"

I blushed slightly at the sudden question. "Yeah…it was in the spur of the moment."

"Was this when you were saving the cheerleader?"

"Yeah, but I really didn't save anybody since the cheerleader he was choking died. The real one though, lived. And Peter was the one who saved her."

"And I painted the event weeks before it happened," he countered. "I might have played a small part in the mission but no matter how small, it was crucial."

"It's like what my teacher says before we go out for auditions," Cole piped up. "There are no small parts, only small people."

"Then I am a very small person," I muttered.

"Who is the Last Airbender…"

I punched Cole in the arm. "I could say the same for you, Robin."

Isaac laughed lightly at our small disagreement. "Danni, you are welcome here anytime whether you want to help or you just want to talk."

"Thank you, but what exactly can I do to help? I'm a small person, remember?"

"No matter how small, everyone has a part. You'll find yours soon." Isaac opened the door. "I hope you being here for so long didn't get you in trouble with your parents."

"I'll grovel for a few hours. It's not that big of a deal," Cole shrugged.

"I have no parents to grovel for, but I have a pest of a brother to deal with at the moment," I said.

"Nathan?" he guessed.

I raised my eyebrows. "Yeah. How do you know him?"

"I met him yesterday when he tried to get a hold of a painting. I really am sorry for you then because he doesn't seem like the easiest person to get along with."

"It's okay, my joy comes out of his misery."

Isaac held a questioning look towards Cole. "Is she serious?"

"I really don't know anymore," Cole sighed. "It could either be sarcasm or the cold hard truth. I've experienced both."

"Either way, I hope you two won't get in trouble with your parents—or your guardians because you decided to see me."

"Don't worry, we won't tell anyone that we came to see you," I reassured him. "And we can deal with whatever we have coming."

"If you say so." Isaac opened the door for us. "As I said before, go ahead and drop in anytime you feel like it."

"Thanks. I'll see you whenever then."

I followed Cole out of the doorway before Isaac could start another conversation.

We continued to walk in silence until we arrived at the next bus stop.

I gave out a sigh of relief. "I thought that would never end."

"You seemed to hold up pretty good, but still…are you okay?" Cole asked, concern visible through his voice.

"I don't know. I'm horrified that Peter is the reason why the world needs saving, I'm scared of facing the world alone, and I'm utterly confused as to where my place is in all of this." I smiled at Cole. "But I'm touched that you think so highly of me…when you really shouldn't."

"Who can blame me? You're pretty awesome."

As if it was a second instinct, I punched him in the shoulder. "Stop doing that!"

"What?" he repeated my annoyed tone, probably out of shock.

"Making me feel like I'm not a screw-up…because I am."

"So am I. We're all screw-ups. Which proves, despite everything that's happened, you're still human."

I smiled for a moment, but then I punched Cole in the shoulder again. "Quit it!"

"Quit what?"

"Trying to make me feel better than I should…because it's working."

"Okay then you're a headstrong teenager who cannot make up her mind or her emotions for that matter."

I suddenly embraced him. "Thank you."

"Wow, compliments for punches yet insults for hugs," he grumbled. "This is a twisted world we live in."

"Not for the insult," I said. "For dragging me out of bed this morning to come to terms with what I actually am."

"You're welcome then." Cole returned the hug.

We hugged until the bus arrived at our stop. As a result, both the bus driver and the bus's passengers gave us strange looks. Great, my school already thinks we're dating; we might as well spread the ridiculous rumor throughout New York. But it was worth it. Cole's presence alone helped me stay together through my meeting with Isaac Mendez. I was surprised he didn't even ask Isaac for an autograph. I guess he cared for me more than he actually put on.

Cole stopped me as we took our seats. "Do you think it's a little too late to ask Isaac for an autograph?"

I rolled my eyes. Never mind. "Sit down, you dork."

We didn't return to Manhattan until the sun began to set. Apparently we had spent more time with Isaac than we thought. But…that's not counting the hotdog stop we made on the way home, our trip to Central Park, or Cole's daring expedition to catch a glimpse of the Broadway Theatre. What? We live in New York. It's natural for even the locals to be fascinated by the beauty of New York. Besides, it got my mind off of everything that happened in the past month. Something I truly needed.

Unfortunately, we rounded the corner leading up to my neighborhood. I purposely slowed down my pace for this moment of peace to last for a few more seconds.

"Are you sure you want to go back?" Cole asked. "You can stay at my place tonight again, if you want."

I shook my head. "No, I need to face the music sooner or later and I'm choosing sooner."

"It's your funeral, but if you need anything, I'll still have the guest bedroom open."

I looked over my shoulder to find the white Victorian house I was forced to call my home staring down at me with its taunting eyes. "I'll be fine. Nathan will be a pest and Angela will pretend to be my mother. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"I guess this is where I leave you then. Call me tonight and tell me how it goes."

"That's if they don't take my phone away."

"If you don't call then I'll talk to you tomorrow at school. You can't get rid of me that easy."

I embraced Cole. "Same here, bud. I'll talk to you soon."

Slowly, but surely I made my way up the steps of the Petrelli Mansion. After taking a deep breath, I entered the house. _Just breathe, _I chided with myself. For a moment the house was still. No one was waiting for me at the staircase or racing down to see me. It was as if nothing happened and I was being ignored again. When the screen door rapped against the doorframe though, that's when I heard the racing footsteps coming my way. _Here comes the storm._

Nathan was the first to appear alongside Angela on top of the staircase. He seemed to pause for a moment, as if he was waiting for me to disappear, but I stayed right in place. He ran down the stairs and charged towards me. I tried not to appear frightened in his presence, so I kept a straight face. He stared down at me with his green eyes for what seemed to be longing hours before he embraced me.

I hesitated as to return the hug, but before I could react, Nathan pulled back staring down at me once again.

"Where were you?" he asked, barely above a whisper.

"I was in the city, trying to get my mind off of things."

"Where?"

"In Central Park," I answered. Technically I wasn't lying yet I wasn't telling the complete truth either.

"Did you happen to run into Peter along the way?" Nathan probably only meant this as a simple question, but his demanding tone told me otherwise.

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "No. He's gone, if you remember." Then all of it made sense. "Wait, you thought I ran away with Peter?"

"It wouldn't surprise me. You went on that suicide mission with him, so you might as well tag along to disappear off of the face of the earth as well."

"Well I didn't go with him. I'm at as much of a loss as you are to where he is at the moment." I looked down to my feet. "He left everyone."

"You went looking for him, didn't you?" he asked.

I nodded, facing Nathan again. "I needed to know where he was or at least why he left. I went through the whole city to find out, but I'm still at a dead end."

"I appreciate that you're looking for Peter, but you need to stay out of it and be a normal teenager. The mission can have serious consequences if you're not careful."

"At least I'm doing something." I glared at him. "Your brother is gone and so far I don't see you doing anything about it."

"That's because I've been looking for you," he responded, slightly irritated. "The school called today saying you didn't even show up and Mom told me about your argument with her. I had to assume the worst."

I snorted. "Wow, that's a mouthful. Who would have thought a month ago you would choose me over Peter to worry about?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "I wasn't born yesterday, Nate. The only reason you would care where I was is because of your stupid campaign."

"Would you stop directing this at me?" Nathan yelled. "It was your decision to follow Peter to Odessa and ditch school today. I had no part in that."

"Both of those were for good reasons, Nate. I was looking for ways to help Peter while you were here worrying how you were going cover-up Peter's latest screw-up."

"You're getting out of control, Danielle. You're sixteen; you need to live a normal life."

"Tell me how I can do that, Nathan? Especially after everything's that happened. Not to mention Peter is gone which is something out of the ordinary."

"I'll handle that part." Nathan gripped my shoulders forcing me to face him. "For now, I want you to go to school and pretend nothing ever happened. It's what Peter would want. That's why he left you."

Tears began to spill out of my eyes. "Why is it that everything in this family is pretending that reality doesn't exist? Even when things got hard with my mom, we never _pretended _that we weren't late on our bills or that we could stay in one place for more than a year. We toughed it out and moved on, but we never pretended our problems didn't exist." I moved away from Nathan's grip. "I'll go back to school and give up on this madness, but you can't ask me to forget or pretend that any of this doesn't exist."

I pushed past Nathan, storming up to my room. I didn't even spare a look to Angela. If only I could speed up time during the next two years then I would be out of this house and away from this cult they call a family.

But I would try to return back to a normal life…at least until I felt ready. Isaac was right. I needed time to find myself before I could come to terms with what I was. Until then my only threats was a man in a suit and a woman who pretends that I'm just a mindless teenager. Joy.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! Sorry if this came out late again. Life suddenly got hectic again, but anyway hopefully the next chapter will be out soon.<p>

~Emyrox567


	14. The Mask Within

The Mask Within

Everything was hazy. Even with my eyes open I could barely tell where I was. My vision started to clear up and my senses were slowly coming to me. I felt the cold floor below me as I looked through the darkness. Then the dim lights flashed on and I knew where I was at.

I was back at Union Wells High School, sitting in the hallway next to the glass case. I heard a crowd cheering in the distance. Had I traveled back in time? If so, did I travel back to two months ago where that fateful night occurred? It was as if I was reliving my nightmare. Then I heard the same bloodcurdling scream echo through the hall.

Without a second thought, I ran straight towards the sound. The scene quickly dissolved into the girls' locker room where I saw it all happen again. The dark figure held Jackie Wilcox against the wall of lockers by her neck while Claire screamed in surprise. I stood there, unsure of what to do. Even if I did travel back in time, would I stop this event from occurring? For every minute I hesitated, the paler Jackie grew. I witnessed Claire jump on the man's back and the man throwing her across the room as a result. I was still at a loss as to what to do until I saw myself in the distance jumping on the man's back as well. And as it happened before, he brushed me off as he did to Claire.

I winced, remembering the pain that came after. Finally a scream escaped from Jackie once again as blood splattered around the room. I closed my eyes to resist reliving the horrific scene again. Her scream soon faded into nothingness. I opened my eyes again to see the locker room completely empty.

"Why didn't you help me?"

I spun around to see Jackie Wilcox glaring at me. She still wore her cheerleading uniform as I remembered, but this time her blond hair was almost covered in blood and her forehead outlined by the scar the man left her.

"You were there and knew what to expect," she continued, her tone sour. "Why didn't you help me?"

"I tried," I told her, slowly.

Jackie gave a harsh laugh. "Yeah, you jumped on the guy's back. _Trying_ didn't save my life, did it?"

"I didn't know what to do."

"Didn't know what to do? Use your powers for God's sake! You could have easily pushed him off of me with your ability."

"I don't know how to control my power to that extent though."

"You better learn then because he's going to come after you like he's going to come after Claire again."

As if on cue, another scream echoed in the hallway. I sprinted towards the scream despite Jackie's warnings to stay away. I stopped dead on my tracks as soon as I saw the hallway. It wasn't empty as I had left it. No. The hallway was almost filled with dead bodies barely making an open trail for me to walk through. Even though the appearances of the bodies were different, I noticed one common trait: a bloody outline on the top of their foreheads.

A dark laugh suddenly crawled up my spine. "I knew you would come."

I looked up to see the dark figure looming in the hallway. My feet didn't make as much as a small step back from the man as if his voice had drilled them to the floor. This is exactly how Claire must have felt when she faced the Boogeyman.

"Danni, what are you doing here?"

I turned back to see Peter facing me. Smiling, I ran to him and for a short moment I forgot the danger I was in. I embraced him, but as soon as I did, a bright light gleamed in my eyes. Taking a few steps back I realized the light was coming from Peter.

"You need to get away from me, Danni!" he shouted to me.

I shook my head. "No, I can't let you go through this alone."

Before Peter could answer though, blood began to spurt out of his head. I screamed in response as Peter fell to the floor. Tears welled from my eyes as I witnessed the scene.

"Who's the hero now?" the Boogeyman's dark voice laughed behind me.

I spun around only to find him directly behind me—a shadow with no soul.

I saw a faint smile creep upon his lips. "Goodbye, little Air Maiden."

Slowly lifting his finger up, he pointed to the edge of my forehead. As he began to trace the line, I felt the piercing pain Jackie Wilcox and Charlie felt when they encountered this monster. I screamed, even though I knew no one could hear me and we were alone.

I gasped as I lifted my head off of the desk to face my curious classmates. How long had I been sleeping? The dream was frightening to say the least. I had fallen asleep in class before, but I never had an intense nightmare like that in class before. Nightmares like the one I shared with you had been occurring for the past two months. I would wake up at two A.M. screaming about the current nightmare. Thankfully, Angela hadn't asked any questions about it. She must have assumed it came with grief of Peter's disappearance. I had a similar experience when my mom died.

So thanks to the nightmares, hours of dance rehearsal, and school, I fell behind on my sleep and usually made up for it by sleeping in class—intentional or unintentional. I also have my nightmares to thank for my teachers and classmates increased concern for my wellbeing. Joy.

My math teacher, Mrs. Aldertree, on the other hand appeared more irritated than concerned. "Danni, unless you think you can ace the class by sleeping through it, stay awake long enough to make it to finals."

I gave one nod. "Yes, ma'am."

The bell rang, prompting me to grab my things. I headed towards the door until a voice stopped me.

"Hey, Danni! Wait up!"

I turned to see Ava rushing up to me.

I gave her a weak smile. "Hey, Ava."

"You are so lucky I was able to copy down an extra set of notes for you." Ava nearly shoved the set of papers in my hands as we walked out into the hallway. "And I was able to get the homework down for you."

"Thank you so much. You have no idea how much I appreciate this."

"It's the least I can do. Besides, with your brother disappearing off the face of the earth, it's kind of easy for you to forget the priorities you have here."

Ava wasn't the least happy with me falling asleep in class. To her, studies always came number one. School was a priority for me as well but I was easily distracted.

"I'm sorry. I've been having…trouble sleeping lately," I explained to her as clear as I could. "It's been a rough couple months."

"I'd say. First you're involved with your brother's suicide attempt, then you disappear to a mysterious dance camp for a week and I was the last to find out about all of this."

"I'm sorry again. Cole just happened to be there first and…it's complicated."

"Complicated how?" she asked. "Complicated like calculus or complicated like I don't want to talk about it complicated?"

I opened my mouth to answer her, but no answer came. I wanted to tell her everything like I had told Cole yet I knew she would be better off in the dark. I really couldn't handle dragging someone else I cared about down with me in a hole I dug myself into.

I sighed. "It's just family complicated. Nathan's literally breathing down my neck now that Peter is gone and…I've got a bunch of things on my mind right now."

Ava raised an eyebrow. "Okay, who are you and what did you do with Danni?"

"What do you mean? I'm still me."

"The Danni I know wouldn't waste any time venting about how her life is going at the moment. But lately I feel you're shutting me out while you're telling every little thing to Cole."

I bit my lip. "Like I said, it's complicated."

"Whatever. I gotta get to class." She began to turn the opposite corner. "I'll talk to you later…I guess."

Lying to Ava was the hardest things to do. Sure, I technically wasn't lying but I wasn't telling the truth either and she could sense that much. I could only imagine the rejection Ava must be feeling, but there was nothing I could do about it. Besides who knows how she would react to what I am. She was a realist as I was. Ava would think I was a crazed drunk until I proved it to her and then her panic attack would come. No. _She can't know. It's the best for everyone. _

I made my way to my history class determined to stay awake this time. Unlike in most of my other classes, I had a watch dog make sure I was conscious. A.K.A. Cole Bowman. I sat in my usual seat just as the bell rang for class to begin. From there, Mr. Jenkins lectured about the Industrial Revolution in America.

Once again, I couldn't focus on the subject matter of the class. Mr. Jenkins mentioned something about America being ahead of Britain which reminded me of Nathan in his campaign which brought me back to Peter. I was still a bit bothered that Peter left me behind. Somehow I felt that I could do something to help him as I did in Odessa. Peter was still human whether he acknowledged that or not. This whole scheme was bigger than the both of us and he was willing to conquer it on his own.

But in order to do that, as Isaac said, I needed to accept who and what I was. I still wasn't sure where I was in that point in time. My powers have been on mute since I went to go see Isaac. Not that I made an effort to make them invisible. They suddenly just disappeared overnight. It was as if they didn't exist. Once again, it was probably due to the stress of losing Peter.

"Excuse me, Mr. Jenkins," Brooke's voice rang in my ears. "Did any of the factory workers have emotional problems?"

Mr. Jenkins frowned. "I'm not sure what you mean…"

"I mean, did any of the factory workers commit suicide because of the horrible working conditions?"

"Not that I know of, but suicide was much more prominent in the Great Depression due to the loss of jobs."

"I see. Thank you, Mr. Jenkins." Brooke smirked towards me before returning her attention to the front of the class.

Brooke's torment had not faded unfortunately. My attempt to punch her fueled her ambition rather than diminished her hopes. Since then, she's been passing notes to me about how Peter abandoned me and indirectly calling me names. It annoyed me more than it bothered me. Her attempts were only fueled by the desire to be in the spotlight. It made me sick.

Mr. Jenkins ended the lecture there and let us work on a reading assignment for homework that night. I tried to concentrate on the Child Labor in the Industrial Revolution, but found myself listening to Brooke's conversation with a boy next her.

"Just look at her," she said. "Waking up from nightmares in class, her detachment from her friends…she's just a walking pathetic freak."

I didn't know if Brooke was making sure that I heard her or not, but her hushed whispers sounded as clear as day to me.

"It's no wonder her brother disappeared. He wanted to be rid of her and he probably won't come back until she's gone."

I clenched my fist in frustration. She had no idea what she was talking about nor did she have the right. Peter left everyone—not just me. I knew he wouldn't abandon me because I was a burden to him. He was the first, and only, of the Petrellis to get to know me. New York suddenly felt lonely without Peter's company. Sadness and frustration washed over me as I felt this sudden surge of power flow through my veins.

Then before I could comprehend the whole situation, a huge gust of wind blew past me nearly knocking the window off its hinges. Papers flew everywhere as shocked screams of my classmates rang through my ears. Was I doing this? The only time I experienced this part of my power was when I sneezed while Cole and I were testing my power. It knocked me across the room, if I remember. But now here I was in the middle of my personal windstorm. I panicked a little at the sight.

I realized that was one of the biggest mistakes I could make when the gusts of wind grew stronger.

A hand rested on my shoulder. "Danni!"

I whirled around to face Cole. "I'm not sure how to shut it off!"

"Calm down, remember?"

I nodded and took in deep breaths. I looked into Cole's blue eyes, thinking of how he's had my back ever since the day we met. He never judged me despite how sarcastic and distant I was with society. Before I knew it, the winds died down and everything went silent.

Mr. Jenkins coughed after a moment of silence. "Well…the weather man didn't say anything about a mini tornado hitting my class today."

The class gave a laugh of relief while Cole and I sat silently. At least they didn't suspect anything. That was the first time my powers overreacted like that. Hopefully it would be the last. From now on, I had to keep my emotions in check or there would be serious consequences for everyone.

Right when the bell rang, everyone jumped from their seats and ran to the door. Cole and I even followed the pack to avoid suspicion from everyone. But that didn't stop Cole from grabbing my arm and dragging me to an empty hallway.

"What was that back there?" he demanded.

I tapped my chin. "Umm…an unexpected windstorm due to my lack of control."

"Seriously, what happened?"

"I heard Brooke talking about how Peter left to get rid of me and I got frustrated and…I lost control."

"Luckily, everyone else thinks it was a random wind storm. You have to keep your powers under control, Danni."

"I'm trying." I groaned. "I don't use it every day so it's hard to figure out how to use this thing."

"I get it," said Cole. "I just don't want to give people a reason to take you away again."

I rubbed the mark on my neck. "Right…but it was also due to other factors as well. You know with Peter being gone and everything." I sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if there's something I can do. He's willing to save the world on his own when serial killer is still out there and when he's the ticking bomb himself."

"I know it's not fair, but we're just kids. What can we do to stop the world from a nuclear disaster?"

"I don't know. Peter would have to absorb that ability to be dangerous." A sudden thought occurred to me. "What if we find the person who has that ability and stop them from having any contact with Peter?"

"Sounds great, but if everyone else is literally under rock as you are with your ability then we approach a dead end with this. Besides, how can we prevent two people from meeting? Think about it, you've already met Claire and Isaac. People like you who you happened to stumble upon."

"We have to try," I persisted. "This is bigger than Peter and I can't let him go through this alone."

"What about Nathan? Won't he get on your case, if you do?"

"Screw Nathan. Peter needs our help and if you won't help me, I will do it on my own. There's nothing you can do to convince me out of this."

A warm smile formed on his lips. "I knew the old Danni would come back."

"So are you in?"

"That's not even a question. As long as you want to do this, you can count me."

I returned his smile. I suddenly felt thrilled to be participating in all of this. It sounded crazy to think I was on a mission to save the world. Sure the world was always in danger whether it is from world hunger, global warming or overpopulation, but I was determined to save it from a nuclear explosion. I was capable of doing so and I wasn't going to waste my power.

I only hoped I wouldn't regret those words.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! Sorry this one is a little short. I'll try to post the next one soon, but I don't make any promises. Until next time.<p>

~Emyrox567


	15. The High Road

The High Road

You know that excitement I felt when I was speaking to Cole the day earlier? Well, it was slowly dying down every moment we spent in the school library searching for reports of "strange activities". We were only able to narrow it down to sightings of Big Foot and flying saucers. I tried searching "real-life superheroes" but I got firefighters and law enforcement officials. There was only so much we could put into a search box without Google exploding on us. But this was our first day investigating this stuff. We had time…I think. I still wasn't clear as to when the bomb would explode.

"Have you got anything yet?" Cole asked in a tired voice.

"Unless you're interested in hearing about alien abductions, then I've got nothing," I told him.

"What exactly do we put into that search box?"

"How am I supposed to know? We could put 'sightings of real-life Spiderman' and it wouldn't make a difference."

Cole paused. "What was that book called that Peter tried to give you?"

"I don't really remember. I know the name of the author sounded Indian…his last name was Suresh and I remember the word evolution being a part of the title."

"It's better than nothing." He typed the clues I provided him with and it brought up a few matches. "The book was called _Activating Evolution _by Chandra Suresh." Cole clicked on the first article. "Looks like he just spoke about why people with abilities are showing up and how their abilities function."

"But it still doesn't help our case," I sorely admitted.

"Sorry. Don't worry, we'll find this guy and hopefully, before Peter does."

I couldn't find the words to respond to that.

Even if I could, the intercom above would have interrupted me. "Will Danielle Petrelli please report to the counselor's office? Thank you."

I groaned. "Great…It's probably Nathan checking up on me."

"During lunch?"

"Well he has made surprise visits before and after school, so why not during?"

I grabbed my bag and stood up. "I'll see you during history."

"Okay. I'll let you know if I get anywhere."

I nodded, walking off towards the counselor's office. I was annoyed at this point with Nathan's visits. All he would ask is what I did that day and how I was fitting in. My answers would be the same: "I'm invisible" or "School was school. How am I supposed to know what happened today?" The only reason I was marching up to the office willingly was because I need to keep up my image. I couldn't have Nathan stop my very little progress of helping Peter.

I approached the front desk when I arrived in the counselor's office. _Here it goes._

"Excuse me," I said to the lady at the front desk. "My name is Danielle Petrelli. I was called to come here earlier."

The lady smiled at me. "Oh yes, you have some very special guests who would like to speak to you, Ms. Petrelli."

I raised an eyebrow. "What kind of special guests?"

"Don't worry, they're just conducting a survey. They'll see you now in Mrs. Smith's office."

_Relax. It's nothing to be worried about._ I told myself. They probably wanted to ask where my education stood and how I was doing health-wise. Yet I still found it suspicious that they would ask for my input alone. I paced myself as I approached Mrs. Smith's office. I hoped, at least, she was in there. It was awkward enough I would have to speak to complete strangers alone. Unfortunately the answers to my prayer weren't answered.

When I opened the door I saw two unfamiliar men standing inside. One had curly dark hair and a dark complexion very similar to Ava's. The other held a pale complexion and had short black hair.

The curly haired man was the first to speak. "Ms. Petrelli, it's a pleasure to meet you. Please have a seat so we can get started."

I silently took my seat opposite of the men. A moment of silence occurred once again until the curly haired man spoke again.

"Excuse me for being rude, my name is Mohinder Suresh and this is partner, Zane Taylor. I left you a few messages in case you didn't know."

I almost froze at the mention of his name. Peter mentioned Mohinder being a skeptic about this stuff and now…I had no idea what he was doing.

"Actually, I didn't," I told him. "Who exactly answered the phone?"

"It was your mother. She said that she would pass the message to you."

"And that is where you made your first mistake. My foster mom doesn't tell me anything and vice versa. So what was this survey thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

"It's not a survey, really," he told me slowly. "A few months ago, you donated blood and signed a form agreeing to have a sample of your blood donated to the Human Genome Project. Your DNA was proved to be…different….and to have possessed evolutionized DNA."

Great, the one good thing I do for society kills me in the end of all of this. Last summer, Ava dragged Cole and me to donate blood for the Red Cross. As for the Genome Project I had no idea what I would become the weeks to come. But one thing I knew for sure. Mohinder Suresh knew what I was and where to find me with my blood leading the way.

I sighed. "You've got the wrong girl. Sorry."

Mohinder didn't believe a word of it. "I know you may have many questions now and also doubts. But we're here to help."

For the first time, Zane spoke. "I know it's scary at first, but you can't deny what's happening to you. It can also feel lonely, not having anyone to talk about this to who understands."

I let it sink in for a few moments. Zane spoke from experience. I could tell that much from him. Yet as I looked at him closely now, he seemed vaguely familiar. The way he kept his head high as he spoke to me and how his dark eyes bore into mine. I could have sworn I had seen that somewhere.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not who you think I am," I said. "I'm not special. I'm just an ordinary sixteen year old girl trying to find her way in this world. I'm sorry to disappoint you."

I stood up from my seat, but Zane stopped me before I could go anywhere.

"Wait," he said. "There are others out there like you."

As if I didn't know that already. "Look, class is gonna start soon and I've got a math final to study for."

"Listen. I can show you you're not alone." Zane smiled shyly. "I'm different too. I've been through the motions you're going through now. Granted, you've gained your ability at a younger age but it's all the same. Denial, confusion, anger…"

"Are we talking about grief here? Because I've definitely been through that."

"No. It's shocking to learn that you're someone of interest, I know. Right now you're just pushing us out when we're trying to help you."

I crossed my arms. "It's called not wanting any help. I've been taking care of myself since I was twelve. I appreciate the offer, but no thank you."

"At least let me show you what it is I can do."

Well, there was no harm in that. "Fine."

Zane got up from his chair and grabbed Mrs. Smith's coffee cup. He then placed a pencil inside the cup. With one tap of his finger, the pencil melted into a puddle in the cup. These abilities never ceased to surprise me. So Zane could melt things…okay.

"All right," I breathed. "That's something I haven't heard of yet."

"It's not glamorous, but it's a part of who I am. It's all in our genes."

"Look, I promise I won't tell anybody but I just can't…be visible."

"You're last name is Petrelli, correct?" Mohinder suddenly asked.

I looked at him, puzzled. "Yeah, you're the one who found me with that last name."

"Are you in any relation to Nathan Petrelli?"

Well, this wasn't good. If they knew I was connected to the Petrelli brothers then they would be free to assume I was special.

But lying alone would push them to believe that. "He's my brother. Why?"

"He's running for congress, correct?"

"Why is this relevant to what we're talking about?"

"Your brother is influencing your answers, isn't he?" Zane assumed.

I shook my head. "No. The last thing Nathan will ever do is influence me."

"Are you sure? He's your brother therefore you will do anything to support him including hiding your true potential to the world."

"Are you Peter's sister as well?" Mohinder asked before I could react to Zane's theory.

"Yes, but not by blood. I was adopted by the Petrellis when I was twelve."

"Do you know if your birth parents exhibited any strange behavior?"

"My mom died in a car crash before I could figure out anything like that and I have no clue who my dad is—nor do I care. So therefore, you have the wrong girl."

My voice sounded sterner than I intended it to be, but I didn't care. It was clear that they couldn't take any of the hints I was giving off and I needed to be obscure as I could for as long as I could keep it that way.

"How can we have the wrong girl if you were the one we found?" Zane countered.

"Your system must have screwed up then," I said, pacing towards the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a life to get back to."

"But you're in danger!" Mohinder yelled.

I turned back to them. "What kind of danger?"

"Ms. Petrelli, there are people out there who will kill you to have what you have. There's a man named Sylar who kills others like you."

"Sylar?" I raised an eyebrow. What kind of name was that? "Now I know you're playing with my head. If there's been a string of murders then the public would know about this, right?"

"Would the police tell you that each of the victims have the top of their head missing? Or the real reason why they were killed?"

I froze on the spot. That's exactly the way Jackie died…and how the Boogeyman killed her. So the Boogeyman's name was Sylar. Great.

"I get it," I sighed, annoyed. "I've been warned. _Adiós__._"

I stormed out of the room just in time for the bell to ring. I continued my hurried pace until I crashed into my desk in math class. Someone found me. Oh God. No matter how invisible I was to everyone else, I would stand out to someone undesirable. I was beginning to realize the situation I was in. Mohinder was right. I was in danger. And because of what?

Because of what I am. How long would it be when someone like Mohinder came knocking at my door again? Or worse, Sylar? Something was going to happen, I could feel it. Yet all I could do about it was stare at a computer screen and sit here worried.

I glanced over to Ava who was laughing with a boy next to her. Had it been only a couple months ago that I felt carefree like that? Unfortunately yes. Even if all of this died down, I would never go about my day without worrying if I would slip up.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! I know this was short, but at least a few familiar characters made an appearance. Also another one is going to as well in the next one. I let you guess that one since we're nearing towards the season finale.<p>

~Emyrox567


	16. The Future Doesn't Scare Me

The Future Doesn't Scare Me

The next couple days went about their usual cycle as compared to the strange encounter I had with the scientist and the creepy guy. Thankfully, they got my hint and as far as I knew, I wasn't receiving any phone calls from Mohinder. Good riddance to that. I wasn't anywhere near interested in being a human genie pig.

Cole was pretty stoked about it when I told him. He compared the situation to the Hydra Organization or some machine called Cerebro in the Marvel comics that he read on how the strangers found me through a blood donation. Sometimes I really wonder what's going on through that boy's head when I talk to him about this stuff. But after I firmly stated that I didn't want to talk about it, he laid off the subject.

As for our research, we've only gone so far. We got more information once we started putting "unnatural nuclear activity" in the Google search box. Our research went back to the train crash in Odessa (which at this point sounded very sketchy) and the murder of UCLA oncologist, Robert Fresco who was burned to a char emitting 1,800 curies of radiation. The only logical explanation that the press seemed to follow was that it was done by a terrorist angry about his wife's cancerous consequences. Still, with the things that have been happening to me, I felt there was more to the story.

I did my own homework and found that the terrorist's name was Ted Sprague. He was taken into custody shortly after the police found finger print matches on Fresco's body. That wasn't what drew me in though. It was the escape he made from the FBI. The car blew into flames as the FBI was transferring him for crying out loud! This information wasn't easy to come by of course. Some very smart idiot decided to film the incident thinking it was some pyrotechnic test for a movie. I'm very thankful for that idiot.

I was more than sure that Ted Sprague was the man who Peter would later meet to absorb his ability. Now the next step was finding Ted before Peter did. Even as I spoke to Cole about this on the way to dance rehearsal, I knew this would be an impossible task.

"There's gotta be some way to find him," said Cole. "Maybe we can build our own Cerebro. I have a couple friends in California who would happy to do the job—oh dang it—we would need a telepathic."

"Any other realistic ideas from the great comic book genius? Think about it, Cole. He's probably in the middle of nowhere making sure no one finds him."

"I do have one other idea, but you're not going to like it."

"Shoot," I simply said. "At this point I can take anything."

"We can try to contact Mohinder and calmly tell him about the situation we're in. He'll definitely help us."

"Anything but that."

"Well do you have any better ideas?" Cole challenged. "Because I haven't heard anything that productive from you."

"That's because I can't think of anything. At least I'm not pulling anything out from the X-Guys."

"The X-_Men_, Danni. If you're going to insult any of my beloved comics at least get the names right."

I raised an eyebrow. "The X-Men? How sexist is that? I mean I've seen the movies and there are plenty of girls in that group of superheroes. Why not the X-Humans or the X-People or something?"

Cole ran a hand through his blond hair. "We are not going through this discussion again. It's the writer's decision, not mine."

"Fine, but I'm just saying it would be nice for the girls to get recognition in a comic book once in a while instead of being the damsels in distresses."

"Ugh…"

"Are you guys having your married couple fights again?" a voice sang behind us.

I turned to find Dylan smirking behind us holding up a flip camera towards us. "Maybe, but that would only be applicable to us if we were really married so therefore no."

"Well you don't have to necessarily to be married to have those kinds bickering fits between the two people. So I am assuming you're finally admitting to the secret relationship you have with the drama-boy here."

"Oh, yes," I shouted mockingly to the empty hallway around us while quickly fluttering my eyelashes. "I've been in love with Cole Bowman since the first time I laid eyes on him."

"Really?" Dylan moved the camera to face Cole. "Is this true Mr. Bowman?"

"Definitely, yeah-yeah," Cole replied in the best New Jersey accent he could. "I've been with this babe since she moved on my street four years back. Isn't that right, Danni baby?"

I nodded my head. "I like couldn't resist his pretty blue eyes and then when he showed me his doll collection, I knew we were meant to be."

"They're action figures, honey."

"Not if you have your Superman and Wonder Woman dolls making out telling them that they're meant to be with each other. Duh!"

Cole was silent for a moment before returning to his regular voice. "Okay, I think I'm done with this role-play."

I smiled smugly. "I thought so."

Despite Cole's embarrassment about the situation, Dylan was very entertained by our role-play act.

"I'm definitely saving this footage," Dylan shut off the camera sliding it in his pocket.

Dylan never went anywhere without this flip camera. Ever since freshman year, he had been documenting his daily activities through the camera. Apparently his mom was persistent in having him write diaries of his experiences in high school so she decided to meet him halfway and get him a flip camera. Since then he documented anything interesting that happened around campus or during dance rehearsals. What he would do with the footage, I had no idea.

While sharing a couple of laughs along the way, we made our way to the theatre for dance rehearsals.

This time around, I had made an effort to be on time rehearsals so my entrance wasn't as dramatic. But today, something else was different. The whole dance team was seated in the front row of the theatre as Coach Montgomery stood on the stage. I guess she wanted to make a couple of announcements before we started to warm up today.

Coach Montgomery made a note of our appearance. "Great all of you made it. Go ahead and take a seat and we'll get started."

Cole, Dylan and I quickly took a seat in the second row as Coach started to make her announcement.

"Okay, first thing's first," she said. "Sectionals are only a few weeks away. All of you know this. We've been working through the routine to make it sure it's close to flawless. But today I want to talk to you about the future. Whether it has dance in it or not. No one knows what's going to happen in the future. We can only hope for the best and prepare ourselves for the obstacles ahead."

If only it were that simple. Only two people in this room knew the catastrophic events that were to occur in the Big Apple and we still had no idea what to do about it.

"I'm not only speaking to the seniors of this team, but juniors, sophomores and even freshmen. The future will come faster than you'd like. So whatever you are doing now, will determine the quality of your future. Participating in this activity allows you to form relationships with people you thought that would never speak to you."

"Danni Petrelli," Dylan coughed loudly.

I moaned. "Oh come on, our relationship hasn't changed since the seventh grade."

"True. It feels like yesterday I was throwing spitballs at you during class."

"That was yesterday. I'm surprised not one thought of murdering you has passed through my mind."

Dylan smiled smugly at me. "Maybe that's because you're in love with me."

"Say that again and I will make sure your legs can't dance again."

His smile disappeared. "Got it."

"I'm surprised you two can maintain a mutual agreement during rehearsal with all of the bickering you do," Coach commented.

"Technically rehearsal hasn't started yet so our peace treaty has not been put into action yet," I pointed out.

"See? Even two individuals who annoy the heck out of each other have formed some kind of relationship. Developing this skill will help you socially in life, but that aside I really want to talk about the options you have after high school in dance. You'll find that most colleges offer scholarships for dancers especially Julliard. You're lucky. You live in a city that thrives on fine theatre arts. NYU sits right in Manhattan and Julliard is not too far from that.

"I know a couple of seniors in here have already applied to the college of their choice. NYU and Julliard are very difficult schools to get into, but if you want to make dancing a crucial part of your lives then I suggest you think about what you should be doing now so that dancing is a part of your future. But that's enough of the future. We should get started with rehearsal today…or as I'd like to call it freestyle."

Everyone on the team cheered as they jumped onto the stage. Freestyle meant dance battle. It gave everyone bragging rights on the team on who was the best dancer. This was one of those many times that I took pride in my hobby. I pulled Cole along with me to the stage as everyone gathered in a circle.

The music then came on and we were moving to the beat already. I let the music consume me as I thought of the appropriate way to move to the song when I got in the middle of the circle.

Dylan was the first to jump into the circle pulling off his best hip-hop moves. His body moved to the beat almost precisely. From my years in dancing, I've learned that you can easily see the manners of a person by simply watching their actions. In case Dylan danced as if he knew every single step and smiled at us representing his arrogant side.

After Dylan came Natalie who, unlike Dylan, concentrated on her movement to the music. Her specialty was ballet most of the time, but sometimes I could get her to do modern dance with me. She showed grace and poise in every step she took as if her feet barely touched the ground representing her gentle calm side. More and more people jumped into the mix, but I continued to wait for the right time.

I knew my time had come when Brooke jumped into the circle. It wasn't her dancing that bothered me. It good enough….I guess. It was the way her eyes and her body language spoke to me: "I'm better than you and there's nothing you can do about it." She could make fun of me all she wanted, but when it came to dancing there was no one in this world that could make me feel small there without suffering a few consequences. The minute Brooke left the circle, I jumped in.

I started with a few moves of modern dancing since the song had reached its bridge. I took in each note the song gave letting it speak to me. When the beat finally picked up I started to do hip-hop. Actually, to tell you the truth I didn't think much of what exact dances I was doing. All I cared about was escaping. Dance gave me that and the freedom to express my feelings without using my words. I even forgot I was trying to prove myself to Brooke. All it took was for the music to whisper its sweet words to me and I was at peace.

Before I knew it, the song was ending and I was making my final move. Cheers roared in my ears as I returned back to reality. How long were they doing that? Did I just notice now? Avoiding any eye contact with my teammates, I returned back to my spot next to Cole.

"That was awesome, Dan," he said to me.

"Please, have you seen these other guys? They're pretty amazing too."

"C'mon, you're being modest. How did you feel out there?"

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "How does this help your point?"

"Just answer the question."

"For the first time in months, I felt…great."

Cole beamed at me. "Then you did great."

I felt my cheeks grow a light pink. "Okay, now you gotta stop with the whole nice guy act. It was cute at first, but now it's starting to get on my nerves."

"Too bad. That's all you're getting out of me."

"I guess that's not so bad." I embraced Cole who returned the embrace. And that was my first mistake.

A flash ran through my eyes nearly blinding me. I separated from Cole as a reaction to my surprise. Once I received my sight, I saw Dylan grinning at me with a camera in his hands.

"What the hell was that for?" I growled.

He smiled smugly at me. "This picture is definitely going into the yearbook as our class's best couple."

I sighed, trying to keep as calm as a composure as I could. "Delete the picture. Now."

"Sorry, but I've got a deadline to meet. Do you have any idea how hard it is to catch you two hugging public at least? I swear, it's like you don't want anyone to know you're dating."

"I will give you five seconds, Harris."

"C'mon, you're not going to do this in the middle of rehearsal are you?" Dylan chuckled.

"Five…"

"Seriously, be mature about this."

"Oh I'm not the immature one. Four…"

"Uh…Coach! Aren't you going to stop her?"

Coach looked up from her CD stack. "Sorry, I'm busy figuring out which song to play you guys next and as long as there's no blood, I could care less of what goes in the yearbook or not."

I smirked. "Three…"

As if it was cue, Dylan took a head start in sprinting out of the theatre. I rolled my eyes. He did this _every_ time. I quickly followed after him in pursuit of the camera and its contents. Some things never changed.

After a long tiring run and failed attempt to delete the picture, I was walking through the door way of the Petrelli Mansion. So the picture of Cole and I hugging was going to be printed for everyone to see at the end of the year. I could care less about what other people thought of me. I simply enjoyed watching Dylan cringe at the thought of me catching up to him. Obviously, I easily could with my powers. But would I? No. That would be cheating and take the fun out of everything.

The existence of my powers alone changed the game for my future completely. I had to consider the factors of keeping my secret a secret like the temptation to use my powers for my own personal gain. Well, I'm not going to bore you with my thoughts anymore. I might as well go on with the story instead of wasting time on myself.

Anyway, have you ever been surprised before? And I'm not talking about receiving birthday presents that you wanted or anything close to that. I'm talking about the moment you walk into a room and your jaw truly wants to drop to the ground. Well, that's what happened to me when I walked right into my room.

I tossed my bag on my bed, fiddled with my phone and thought of which homework assignment to start first before I bothered to look up. When I finally did, I froze right on the spot. The last person I ever expected to see again was standing in my room staring nervously at me.

"Claire?" I choked out.

She gave a shy smile. "Hey, Danni."

So many questions swarmed through my mind. I expected Claire to be living as normal of a life as she could in Odessa. Peter and I made sure of it.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned. "Especially in my room of all places."

"I came to see Peter," her smile slowly faded. "Everything at home went crazy. My dad turned out to be someone I didn't think he was and my mom was getting sick…and everyone was losing their memories. After my house exploded and I came out without a scratch I had to get away."

"Your house exploded?" And I thought I had problems.

"Yeah, there were these two guys that came in blaming my dad for what happened to them. They were special too. Matt Parkman, the detective, he could read minds and his friend, Ted Sprague he—"

"Was radioactive," I finished for her. "You've met him?"

"Unfortunately. Have you?"

"No, I've just done my research." I gave a heavy sigh. "Listen, I hate to tell you this but Peter is gone. He's been missing for the past couple months."

"I know. Angela told me when I came to his apartment."

"Angela? What does she want with you?"

"You don't know?"

"Of course she doesn't, your father and I made sure a limited amount of people knew."

I turned to see Angela walking into my room. She knew something I didn't. It was written all over her face.

"Knew about what?" I eyed her suspiciously. "Why is Claire here? Or better yet, why did you find her at Peter's apartment?"

"To save you the time and energy, Danielle, she's my granddaughter," Angela said to me.

My eyes grew wide. "Wha…How—how is that possible? Whose daughter is she?"

"Can't you tell? She has Nathan's eyes."

If it were ever possible, my breath escaped me. Nathan had a daughter who was barely a year younger than me which made Claire my niece. It was startling thought in itself. Turns out the blond in Las Vegas wasn't the only woman he spent special time with outside his marriage. Claire's golden blond hair proved that. I knew from experience. My mom was a blond Latina with blue eyes while I had my unknown father's dark hair and brown eyes.

Angela continued to speak at my silence. "Before you ask about why she's in your room, I've allowed her to stay with you until we go to Paris together."

"Paris?"

"Well she can't stay here with Nathan's campaign going on now can she?"

It was then I noticed the two twin beds in my room. _I seriously needed to pay attention to my surroundings. _

"I let you two get to know each other…or catch up whichever it may be."

Angela left the room at that. We stared at each other unsure of what to say. Knowing Claire as the cheerleader everyone was ready to save was one thing. Having her as my niece and possessing half of Nathan's gene pool was a completely different story. But she was nothing like Nathan. At least I thought she was. I only had one full conversation with her.

Claire's nervous smile appeared once again. "So…what's been going on with you?"

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><p>Thanks for reading and Happy Father's Day! I know this is a late update, but I've been busy. I could give out a whole list, but I don't think any of you care. This chapter is kind of the turning point where it starts going back into the main plot of the story since Claire decided to come.<p>

~Emyrox567


	17. For the First Time

Okay, before you start reading this chapter I just want to address an issue that just came to my attention: the timeline of this story. To be honest, the aspects that you know about Heroes will remained unchanged except for the timeline. I just found it confusing in the original show considering the story starts out in 2006 and ends in 2009 when little time has passed in between seasons and episodes. So here's how it's going to work: season one takes place during Danni's junior year and then season two starts out in the beginning of Danni's senior year. Season three volume three will continue on that year while volume four will take place during the summer and season four will take place in Danni's freshman year of college. Basically I'm expanding the timeline in which events take place. It's really the only major thing I'm changing about the show. Other than that, you'll still be able to recognize this as your precious show, _Heroes._ Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

><p>For the First Time<p>

Claire and I didn't speak for the rest of the night. I just continued to do my homework while she went on to read a book I lent her. I couldn't even call Cole to tell him the news. This was all too breath taking for my taste. Nathan was right when he said that we were all connected, but I never expected this type of connection with the cheerleader. I felt like I needed to know more about her at this point. I mean I knew a great deal about Simon and Monty. Why not Claire?

When I woke up that morning, I got up to get ready for school…then when I finished I decided that it would be useless to go to school that day. If I wanted to know more about Claire then I needed to dedicate at least a day to talk to her. Besides this would technically count as a family emergency. I texted Cole that I would not be going to school that day and went downstairs to make us breakfast.

Angela even didn't ask why I was cooking pancakes when I was supposed to be leaving for school. She had a good idea of what I was doing and didn't seem to care. Of course, if Nathan were here, he would have dragged me to school by my feet. Thankfully he wasn't. For Claire's sake anyway.

Claire was opening her eyes when I walked into my room with a tray of pancakes.

"Good morning, Cheerleader," I said to her. "I made us some breakfast this morning."

"Um…thanks?" she eyed me suspiciously. I took this as my cue to explain myself.

I set the pancakes on her bed. "Listen, I'm sorry about the whole silent treatment thing last night. You could say the news was a little…insane for me. But I'm okay now…sort of. Anyway I'm ready to move past that little detail and get to know you. Sorry if that came off as a little creepy."

"No. It's okay." She smiled meekly. "I feel the same way about the situation and I would like to get to know the girl who helped saved my life."

"I know it's been a long time since we've seen each other but I distinctly remember Peter saving your life and not me."

"You really don't want to be the hero, do you?"

"Being the hero is a strong term to imply," I remarked. "I actually wouldn't call myself a hero or even a villain. I'm not a bad person but I'm not an angel. I'm just me…a girl who got herself warped into this madness."

"And that's why we have so much in common. I still can't believe you're my aunt," said Claire. "It was like we were destined to run into each other some point in our lives."

"Don't get your hopes up. I'm not your aunt by blood—I was adopted when I was twelve years old."

"So? I was obviously adopted. I still consider the people who cared for me as my family."

"There's the key word: care." Claire opened her mouth to refute but I stopped her. "That's enough about me, how about you? So far I know you're adopted, you're fifteen, and I still don't understand why your house exploded."

"It's a long story…"

I gave her a small smile. "I've got time."

"It started when Peter told me to get help," she began. "I ran into my dad and I told him everything—about me, what I could do. The only other people that knew were my friend, Zach and my brother, Lyle. He told me that I couldn't tell anyone else about me because bad people would be after me. But it wasn't a surprise to him—he knew all along. He just wanted to protect me. My dad told me that he would talk to Lyle about it and told me to talk to Zach to destroy the videos we made of me killing myself. When all of that was said and done, I asked Lyle if my dad talked to him but he didn't even remember how he got home from practice. Then I asked Zach about it and it was like we were never even friends.

"That night, a man who works for my father came to me saying that my dad ordered him to erase my memory like he had to Zach, Lyle…and my mom. He didn't though because he felt that I had the right to know. For the next couple months I pretended to be oblivious to my father. Then my mom started getting sick—forgetting actually. There was one night she couldn't even remember who I was. When she fainted, I exploded on my dad. I told him that I remembered everything and that he was the reason why mom was sick.

"We brought my mom home the next morning to find Matt Parkman and Ted Sprague there. They claimed that my dad abducted people and made them forget."

My ears perked at that. "What?"

"Yeah, they said that they were gone for a period of time and then they don't remember what happened."

"Oh, weird." I did my best to sound as neutral as I could about the subject. I didn't really feel like giving my input on the subject.

But of course, I failed miserably.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Was it something I said?"

"No, it's nothing. I just thought it could have been Sylar or something."

Claire seemed to ignore my mention of Sylar of altogether. "So you know about people being abducted too?"

I glanced down at my lap. "Kinda…"

She rested her hand on mine causing me to look up at her comforting eyes. "Look, if you want to talk I'll be able to listen to you just like you've been listening to me. Something happened, didn't it?"

I stayed silent. No one besides Cole and Peter knew about this. I didn't realize how hard it was to talk about until Claire brought up the question. The whole ordeal still bothered me—scared me even. But I knew that I didn't have to be as guarded around Claire as I was to many others. She was like me. She understood what it was like to lie to her friends about what she was or what really happened the night of Jackie's death.

I caved in. "Yeah. The few days before we went to Odessa, I don't remember at all. I was walking home from Peter's apartment and all I remember is blacking out and the next thing I know I wake up in my room with Angela telling me that I was off at dance camp for that week. For a second I believed her but then I found these marks on my neck." I stretched the collar of my shirt long enough to reveal the black centimeter marks on my neck. "Cole and I haven't figured out who did it but now I know."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry…if I had known earlier—"

"You could've done nothing," I finished for her. "Your dad didn't want you to know anything about this and he made sure of it."

"He was trying to protect me," Claire said, her eyes glistening. "The Company put me in his hands until there were signs of me being special yet he didn't turn me in. I want to be mad at him but at the same time I can't because all of the lying and the people he's hurt was to give me a normal life."

"Then don't be mad at him. He obviously loves you more than anything in this world right now—the worst you can do to him is hate him."

"Do you hate him?"

"I…I don't know. I can't hate him either because if it came down to protecting anyone I cared about, I would do the same."

A tear ran down her cheek. She seemed broken about the whole ordeal. I could never know how strong the father-daughter bond was, but I could tell that Claire loved her dad just as much as he did. I rubbed my eyes to find that I had been crying as well. I didn't realize skipping school would be so emotional.

"So how did your house explode again?" I asked putting on the best smile I could.

Claire put on a weak smile. "Long story, short: Ted Sprague got angry and he started putting my house on fire. I was the only one able to get in there and knock him out."

"I see."

"Look at us. We were both trying to pretend that we could go back to our lives without consequences when in reality, there's no going back."

Her smile faded into a solemn one. I took her hand in mine catching her off guard. "Hey, things may be different now but you and your dad can get through this. He knew from the beginning what you were yet he still let himself love you. You two will work it out. I can see that you still miss him."

"You miss Peter too, huh?" she asked suddenly. I didn't respond so I let her continue. "He'll come back, you know. He loves you too much."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I saw the way Peter relaxed when I told him you were okay the day after you _helped_ save me. I would do the same if my brother was in that situation. He'll come back."

I nodded. Talking about Peter was starting to hurt as much as talking about my mom. "So, um, do you want to watch a movie or something?"

"I'd love to," Claire said.

I got to my feet and made my way to the secret stash of DVDs under my bed. "So what will it be first? _Step Up _or _Big Momma_?"

"_Step Up_. Channing Tatum is amazingly hot."

"Agreed. This movie makes me want a dance partner like him."

"Oh right, you're a dancer. Do you dance for a team or are you on your own with this?"

I placed the DVD in my TV. "I dance with a team at my school. Unfortunately the guys aren't as attractive as they are in this movie."

"Sorry if this gets a little personal but have you ever had a boyfriend?"

Contrary to her belief I was not offended by the question. It was a simple answer anyway. "No. I've been too preoccupied with…everything else that I haven't even thought of a relationship. How about you? Most guys prefer blondes over ravens anyway."

"Me either," she shook her head. "I used to have a crush on this one guy at my school. Then during a bonfire—he kissed me. We went somewhere private and he almost made me do it."

I didn't even have to ask what she was referring to. The boy was treading dangerous waters as far as I knew.

"What happened then?" I almost demanded.

Claire answered barely above a whisper. "I died. I woke up on an autopsy table with my insides wide open. I ran home as fast as I could before they could figure out it was me."

I couldn't speak for a moment. I could've said I was sorry but I knew it was worthless. You could say sorry however many times you wanted but unless you knew the pain that the person was going through then you could never sympathize with them the way they want you to.

So instead of telling her those two overly-common used words I said, "Whoever this guy was, he's an ass and he doesn't deserve your time. Now, if you don't mind I would like to watch the hot Channing Tatum bust a move."

Claire silently agreed with me as I put in the movie. We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the movies that I kept under my bed. There were laughs, tears and any other activity associated with home entertainment. To be honest, it was something we both needed. For hours I forgot I was a freak, Claire was my newfound niece, Peter had been missing for the past couple months, a serial killer named Sylar was on the loose, and the impending explosive future ahead. I was able to escape and so was Claire. I was at peace.

You would think the rest of my day would be a repeat of _Farris Bueller's Day Off_, but that was not the case. Our last movie was ending and I was craving for some junk food. I decided to go down to the kitchen with Claire to scavenge for whatever food we could find.

"I'm telling you, it's impossible to find any junk food in this house," I told Claire as we made our way down the stairs. "I can't even eat any Lucky Charms."

Claire shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

I mutely agreed with the statement. As I continued my way down the stairs a chill ran through my body. I couldn't explain it then or why I was feeling this way, but it seemed like something was off. The mansion was usually quiet yet it seemed unnaturally silent when I was walking down the stairs. I stopped midway to glance around the entrance room. Everything seemed normal, but when I looked into the other room I froze.

It was as if the sight itself nailed my feet to the staircase. For a moment I thought I had reentered my recent nightmares, but deep down I knew that wasn't the case. With all of the strength I could gather, I finished my stride down the steps and quietly crept into the room. Once I was close to the sight, I was able to see for myself it was true.

Angela hung her head over Peter's lifeless body as Mohinder Suresh helplessly watched on. Everything suddenly went numb like I couldn't decide if I was sad or angry. This couldn't be happening. Peter could heal—he couldn't die. Yet there he was lying on the end table with the same bloody scar traced on his forehead as I had seen in my nightmares.

Angela muttered something to Mohinder while still locking eyes with Peter's pale eyes. Reluctantly, Mohinder went to leave the room. My confused gaze met his for a moment until he left the room. But I still had questions. I chased after him outside before he could make it into the cab he was driving.

"How?" I demanded from him.

I didn't even have to finish the question for Mohinder to give me the answer.

"He was murdered," he said gravely. "He was trying to save me."

"Who—who murdered him?" I breathed.

"Sylar."

Just like that the situation finally came crashing down on me. Peter was dead—no murdered by the very man haunting my nightmares. He wasn't coming back. I wasn't going to be able to yell at him for abandoning me or hug him for finally coming back. The member of the Petrelli family I considered as my brother was gone. I was alone. I ran back inside, shoving past Claire on the stairs. Whether I used my power or not I was in my room within seconds crying out my tears in my pillow. This was my mother's death all over again. The excruciating pain of losing someone I truly cared about came back again.

I looked over to my cell phone and picked it up. I needed someone here other than the people that called themselves my family. Once I dialed the number, I waited for the person I trusted the most to pick up.

Thankfully, Cole did. "There you are. Where have been all day? Did Nathan ground you from school to or did he drag you to some—"

"Can you come over?" I asked trying to hold back my tears.

"What's wrong?"

"We did all of that hard work for nothing, Cole. It's over."

"What happened, Danni?" he nearly demanded.

"Peter's dead. He's gone for good. Could you please come over? I really need someone right now."

"I'll be right there."

The line ended without another word. Rubbing the tears from my eyes I decided to go back. Even if he was dead, I owed it to Peter to say my final goodbyes.

Slowly but surely I found myself back into the room where Peter's lifeless body laid. Angela was still in the same position I had left her in. She was most likely in shock that her son was gone. I bent down to get a closer look at him. He seemed to be at peace without a heart beating in his chest.

I took his limp hand into mine and squeezed it. "Why did you have to go, Pete? Could you at least told me that much?"

Angela finally noticed my presence and put a hand on my shoulder. "He's gone, Danielle. There's no need to reason with that."

"It just…it just hurts so much."

"What does?"

"Feeling."

"Then don't see him as he is now. See him as the brother that cared for you." Angela forced a smile as if she was able to break down again. "I have to go make a call. I want you to stay with Claire and make sure she doesn't come down here when Nathan gets here."

I slowly nodded. I ran my fingers through his unruly black hair before Angela brought me back to my feet again. I dragged my feet out of the room finding Claire just outside of it. She immediately embraced me as she led me to the living room. We sat on the couch in silence for a good deal of time until Claire spoke.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

"You don't have to say that," I replied in a low voice. "There's nothing you can do to fix it anyway."

We didn't say anything to each other after that. My mind kept replaying Jackie's death, but instead of Jackie I saw Peter fighting for his life. Sylar was going to pay. I didn't know how, but he was going to be pay. I almost fell asleep on the couch when I heard Nathan's voice come through the front door.

"Ma! Danielle!" he called out.

I got up from the couch facing Claire. "I should go and see if Nathan's going to be okay. I suggest you stay in here."

"I want to see Peter too," she stated.

"I just suggested it. I didn't say I was going to stop you."

I walked out of the living room before I could see her reaction. I found Nathan cradling Peter in his arms with Angela watching on.

"He isn't supposed to die this way," Nathan sobbed into Peter. "He's not supposed to die this way. He was wrong. Oh. What do we do?"

Then Angela said the coldest words I never thought would escape even her lips: "We hide it."

"What?" Nathan questioned, surprised.

"Till after the election. Last thing he would have wanted was to bring you down with him."

"Are you serious?" I narrowed my eyes at her. "Even in death all you can think about is Nathan's precious campaign! He's your son for crying out loud!"

Before Angela could say anything to me, Nathan muttered to her, "Ma, it doesn't matter anymore. Peter's dead. I'm not having this conversation."

There were a lot of things I doubted about Nathan: his ability to be completely honest, his faithfulness to his wife and the lack of selflessness he had. But if there was one thing I could count on him for it was sticking up for Peter. Sure, they had their moments but they would eventually make up and be brothers again.

Angela perked her head up in my direction. I glanced behind me to see that Claire had chosen to follow me. I watched the scene carefully as Nathan looked up from Peter to Claire. He seemed unsure on how to react to seeing his only daughter.

"Claire," was all he said to her.

"I know you don't want me here," Claire said to Nathan. "I just want to see him. I came all this way."

"Let the girl have her moment." Angela walked out of the room.

Great, even in the wake of Peter's death she still has time to bring down people whom she thought was lower than her. I wanted to yell at her for calling her granddaughter "the girl" but the timing was inappropriate so I followed Nathan and Angela into the other room. Nathan embraced Angela as I leaned against the wall to observe Claire's final goodbye. It was sad. She never got to know the man that saved her life. Just as I was about to daze away from the scene, I heard a loud gasp from where Claire was at. It was the same gasp I heard when Peter survived the fall in Odessa. I looked back towards Claire again and my eyes began to water. Not because I was sad anymore though. I was overjoyed. Peter sat straight up gasping for air. He was alive. He never left. I glanced over to see Claire holding a chard of glass covered in blood. She saved him.

Through the joy I was feeling I almost forgot that Peter walked out on me without telling where he was going or what he was planning on doing. My joy quickly turned to frustration as I marched up to Peter.

He noticed me and smiled. "Danni."

I punched him in the shoulder. "You didn't return any of my calls. You _left_ without even a thought of saying goodbye and now here you are breathing from a near death experience."

"Technically, I did die."

"How could you say it like that? You made me curl up in a ball and cry my eyes out! I really thought you were a goner."

"C'mon just say it," Peter grinned.

I crossed my arms. "Say what?"

"That you missed me."

I pulled him into a hug. "So much. Don't ever leave like that again."

"I promise. I'm not going anywhere this time."

Peter returned the hug and for the first time in two months I felt safe again.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading!<p>

~Emyrox567


	18. Road Map

Road Map

After our embrace, Peter went to clean up and change his clothes. And I do not mean this was a choice for him. I mean Angela—his mother—forced him into cleaning himself up when Peter wanted to catch up with what was going on with all of us. I guess she didn't understand the impact of dying and coming back to life—again. I would assume that hygiene was the last thing on Peter's Bucket list. But there was nothing I could do to defy Angela's influence over Peter.

I didn't care though. Peter was back and that's all that mattered. It made my job easier to make sure he didn't run into Ted Sprague. Yet at the same time the future predicted was coming into play. Nathan was right. If Peter didn't die this way, he would die by destroying thousands of lives. It was a dark thought, but it was true.

Now here I was anxiously waiting for Peter to come back from cleaning himself with Claire sitting beside me in the living room. He owed me two months' worth of conversations at this point. I perked my head in direction of the entrance hall at the sound of two urgent rings at the door. I saw Angela go to answer the door so I relaxed myself back into the couch.

"Were you expecting someone?" Claire asked.

I thought back to the call I made to Cole when I thought—oh boy. I jumped up from my seat and sprinted to the front door. Angela answered the door, but the minute Cole saw me he brushed past her and embraced me.

"Danni, I am so sorry," he whispered to me. "I tried to get here as soon as I could. Jack couldn't take me so I had to catch a cab—then the cab ripped me off and dropped me off at some bar on the other side of the city. From there I had to pay for a bus to take me. Of all days to have my bad luck, right?"

I stood there frozen. "No, Cole it's okay. Everything's okay."

"Great, now you're in the denial phase." Cole pulled away. "Look, I'm here for you. If there's anything you need or if you just want me to be there, I have your back."

"Cole, you don't understand—"

"I know I don't understand what you're going through right now, but if you let me in then maybe I'll be able to sympathize with you."

"Cole, really—"

He gripped my shoulders. "Peter's gone. I know. He was like a brother to me too. I couldn't imagine losing Jack so you are free to consider Jack as your brother. Trust me he could use some time off from binging food from the house."

I took his hands off of my shoulders and put them in mine. "For a couple seconds, could you please listen to me?"

"Sorry, Peter dying is a huge shock for me too."

"Then this will be good news. When I called you to come over, he was dead. But when Claire pulled the glass out of his head, he came back to life again."

Cole didn't answer for a few moments. "Claire's here?"

"Yeah, she just dropped in last night. Did you not hear what just said about Peter? He's alive!"

"Are you sure you're still not in denial?"

"Why would I be lying about this?" I exasperated. "This is Peter we're talking about."

"Exactly." Cole paused. "Are you seeing his ghost?"

I punched him in the shoulder. "No, I'm serious."

"Fine—ow—you're serious. He's come back to life before but who's to say he'll come back again."

"I don't know. I'd probably ask the source itself," a voice said beside us.

I looked over to see Peter smirking at us. He probably heard our whole conversation.

Cole jumped at the sight. "Geez, Pete, you almost gave me a heart attack."

"I seem to have that affect today," said Peter, grinning at us. "It's good to see you again, Cole."

"You too. Except I thought you would not be…"

"Alive. Yeah, a lot of people thought that too."

"Hey," soft voice came from behind.

We turned our heads to see Claire standing in the doorway of the living room.

"Sorry, I just wanted to see what the commotion was," she explained.

I shrugged. "It's okay. I was just filling in our resident drama queen about what was going on."

"Well excuse me for thinking that Peter was dead after a tearful phone call that was made to me in the middle of rehearsal," Cole grumbled under his breath. "You didn't even tell me that Claire was here."

"Anyway, Danni," Peter looked to me. "Can you please come with me? You, Nathan and I have to talk this out."

"Which part?" I questioned. "What we can do, the apocalyptic future you failed to mention to me, or the fact that Claire is Nathan's daughter?"

"Whoa!" Cole exclaimed. Oops, I forgot he didn't know. "When did this happen?"

"When Fly-Boy couldn't keep his pants on," I answered. "I guess this is the part where you go: 'OMG'."

"Man, I miss everything…"

Peter waved off the small conversation Cole and I had. "We need to talk about everything."

I nodded. "Cole, could you stay with Claire in my room? I don't think Nathan is ready to see her right now."

"Sure, but what exactly do you want me to do?" he asked nervously. "I'm not exactly the most entertaining person in the world."

"I'm not asking you to dance for her. Just talk to her. She'll open up."

"If you say so." Cole walked over to Claire. "Hey, have you heard of the _Thor_ comic books?"

Claire shook her head. "No."

"Then let me introduce you to the world of comic books."

"May God be with you, Claire," I called out to her.

Cole stuck his tongue out at me and I did the same as Peter led me to the parlor. As expected I found Nathan sitting next to his desk deep in thought. At this point I assumed that Nathan knew about Claire's existence, but this was the first he ever came face to face with her. I didn't know how high Claire's hopes were for finding her birth father and the relationship afterwards. I just hoped that they weren't too high. Besides flying, he could easily disappoint others.

Nathan glanced up at me. "Pete, why is she here?"

"She's our sister, Nathan," Peter stated. "She deserves to have this conversation just like the rest of us."

"She's just sixteen."

"And for the past few weeks I have flown over a car, been abducted, had a run-in with a serial killer and almost suffered the heart break of losing a brother," I quipped at Nathan. "Tell me now that I'm not ready to have this conversation."

Nathan didn't respond to my statement and returned to his deep thought. I knew he would give up trying to force me into being normal as he wanted me to be. Peter took the bloody chard of glass from the desk and looked at it through the window.

"What do you do with something that killed you?" he mused.

I shrugged. "Put in a trophy case as one of your accomplishments?"

"Put it under your pillow," said Nathan. "I don't know what I would have done."

"Don't think about it." Peter made his way towards Nathan. "I didn't die."

"Yeah, but if you had…I don't know who I am without you."

"Oh course, you do. You're Nathan Petrelli. Top of his class, valedictorian, most likely to…You're that guy with me or without me."

"Who's to say I'm not all of that because of you?"

"What about me, Peter?" I asked. "I know if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be who I am today. Yet…I still don't know who that is."

"Danni, you would still be that strong girl I know," Peter said to me. "You may not see it but your future is whatever you want it to be. You could be the next Beyoncé or the next greatest lawyer of all time with your mouth."

"You make it sound so easy."

Peter opened his mouth to answer, but Nathan interrupted. "Most of what we are is what people expect us to be. I mean, if you take them away, nothing means anything."

"It's a good thing I can't die then," Peter said lightly.

"What?"

"I got that from Claire. She can regenerate."

I saw a spark of interest flicker in Nathan eyes. "No matter what happens?"

Hm, maybe Nathan did care for Claire more than I thought.

"I think so."

"What about that painting?" Nathan inquired. "You explode. I mean, if that happened, you could survive it?"

Nope, I guess not. "Wow, unbelievable!"

He didn't have to say anything else. I knew that Nathan would let Peter explode if he meant his brother could live.

Thankfully, Peter saw my side of the argument. "Doesn't really matter, does it? Think about it for a minute. If I go nuclear, if I blow up New York, do you know how many people are gonna die?"

"0.07%," Nathan muttered.

"Talk to her Nathan. She wants to know her father."

"I can't deal with that right now."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on! Somehow, someway, she believes that she can get to know her dad. Look, Fly-Boy, she's been through hell the past couple months. Finding you has been one of her only highlights, trust me."

Peter nodded. "She's not just some girl, she's your daughter. You know that mom wants to send her to Paris? You can't let her go. Don't you get it? She's the girl that we saved in Texas. Save the cheerleader—"

"Save the world," he finished. "I get it. I remember."

"And she turns out to be your daughter. _Your_ daughter. Look around. Everything I said is happening is happening now. It's real. Now, maybe if Claire's here, I don't blow up. Maybe she's here to save us. Talk to her, Nathan. We need her."

"Please, do this for her," I sighed. "You are the last person I would ever trust, let's be honest. But you're one of the first Claire will listen to. She can't go to Paris with Angela. Whether it's an act of God or fate itself, she's meant to be here and I have a feeling more of us will start coming in."

Nathan continued to stare at us in response. I hoped his silence was a yes. The bomb was going to go off, there was no stopping it. But if Claire was here, maybe we could work around it. I heard footsteps coming up from behind me and turned around to see Angela waiting in the doorway.

Nathan, Peter and I exchanged glances. It was then I realized that Angela didn't seem confused about the whole ordeal at all—or even surprised. She continued to hold her calm composure the whole time after Peter rose from the dead. I knew it was time to tell her, but I wasn't going to be the one that told her.

Peter was the first one to speak. "About what just happened, Nathan, Danni, and I need to talk to you."

"It's okay, I know," she said to us.

My jaw dropped open. What?

"I knew long before either of you did," she continued.

"Wait, what?" I nearly screamed.

"I knew that you were special, Danielle. So did your mother."

That hit me at home. "My mom knew too? Yet no one cared to tell me."

"How could we? No one can be sure that their child is going to be as special until it happens. Your mother wanted to tell you, but she felt that you were too young at the time especially if nothing strange was happening with you," Angela explained.

"Are you different too?"

Angela gave a weak smile. "Yes. The future all of you have been fussing about the past two months is one that I have been dreaming about for years."

"Is that why you adopted me then? Because I was different? Like what happened to Claire?"

She paused. This was a question I never asked but I wanted to be answered. There had to be some type of motive for Arthur and Angela to adopt me. At least in Claire's case, her foster family learned to love her.

"Yes," she said. "Your mother's death was sudden. We had to do something to make sure that you were in good hands."

"So you just planned to watch over her then?" Peter questioned his mother.

"In many ways yes. But we knew that your mother would want you safe."

"And her just being miserable here is what you call safe?"

I stopped Peter before he could go on. "Wait, you knew my mother?"

"I've known your family for years now," she corrected. "I met your grandfather when I sixteen in fact."

"So, my mom was different, wasn't she?"

"Yes. The gene has been passed down your family for generations."

I froze. So I was meant to be this freak from the beginning? I should have been angry at my mother yet couldn't find myself to. It wasn't her fault. She probably hated it as much as I did, but I wished she would have at least told me so that I didn't feel so alone when the day came when my ability finally kicked in. Angela was right though. How could she? I was only twelve years old when she died. I wouldn't have been able to understand at the level that I do today.

Then there was my foster mother, Angela who knew all along but could care less if I knew or not. It was obvious she didn't plan on telling me sometime in the future—not even her own sons.

Peter placed a hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay, Dan?"

I gave out a heavy sigh. "Excuse me while I breathe."

I stormed out of the room before Peter could stop me. I rushed up the stairs and strode into my room. I slammed the door behind me and began to take in deep breaths. _This doesn't change anything_, I tried to convince myself. But I knew that was a lie all together. Since all of this started, I thought Angela was clueless and/or didn't care about what was going on in my life when in reality she knew more than I ever did. I was the idiot in all of this and no one could change that.

"So I'm assuming everything went well then?" Cole slightly joked.

I looked over to see Claire and Cole sitting on her bed with comic books spread out on their laps.

I shook my head. "You have no idea how big of idiots we were to think that no one else knew."

"Who knows?" Cole asked, shocked.

"Angela, that's who, she knew all along, Cole. She knew exactly who and what I was when she took me into this hellhole. She knew my family for crying out loud! And it gets better, she knew about the bomb going off and she hasn't done anything to stop it! I feel so stupid!"

By this time I collapsed on my bed, burying my face into my pillow. I felt a hand pat my back.

"It's okay, Danni," I heard Cole soothe me. "No one could have guessed that Angela knew all of that."

"I should have known though," I mumbled through my pillow.

"How could you have known though?"

I lifted my head from my pillow. "Let me ask you this, Cole, did your brother freak out when he found out that you were in jail in Odessa?"

Cole nodded. "He lectured me the whole plane ride back home. _Lectured_ me. Jack gets lectured. He never lectures—especially me."

"Exactly. You see, Angela never did that with me. Even when Peter was in a coma she didn't even bother to scold me for what I did. It was like she wasn't even surprised that I did that. I should have known."

"And you say I'm the drama queen. Okay so, Angela knew everything from the beginning. So what? That doesn't change anything that's happening now, does it?"

"Cole, the reason I'm here in New York is because of her. I think that changes my perspective on a couple things."

When Cole didn't respond right away, Claire spoke. "So, the same thing happened to you, didn't it? You were just an assignment at first."

"If you put it that way, then yes," I muttered.

"Then so what? You're here now and that's all that matters. Think about it, if you never lived in New York then you would have never met Cole or Peter just like I wouldn't have met my family."

"And since we're making this so deep," Cole began, "I have no idea where I would be if I never met you. You're the best friend I've ever had."

I wiped the tear that ran down my cheek. "Do you have any idea how cheesy that sounded?"

Cole opened his arms. "C'mon, you know you want it."

I sat up and embraced him. "At least I know I'm not a charity case."

"You never were to me."

I blushed. That boy really needed to stop doing that. "Just shut up and hug."

We were quiet for a moment before I realized that we weren't alone. I looked over to Claire who was awkwardly staring at us, obviously unsure of what to do.

I opened one of my arms to her. "C'mon get over here, Cheerleader. There's room for one more."

Reluctantly, Claire joined our hug. She needed it as much as the rest of us. Nathan was going to talk to her for the first time and she needed all the luck she could get. We separated from the hug shortly after and gave a small smile towards each other.

The moment would have been flawless, but there were still a few issues to work out here. So I was the first to break the moment. "As fun as this has been, we still have a few things to discuss."

"Like what?" Cole asked. "Peter's back and that takes care of at least half of our problems."

"But there's still the tiny little nuclear detail still amidst in our problems and how we're going to deal with that."

"Look for the past week or so, we've been trying to find this Ted Sprague guy so Peter doesn't meet him and go nuclear. Now that he's here, it's a lot easier to keep track of who he meets."

I quirked an eyebrow. "Stalk him you mean?"

"Not necessarily—but you know what I mean."

I shook my head. "No, we have to have a plan for this—a road map as to where we're going with this. The bomb is going to happen—that's enviable. But how we're going to control it is in our hands completely. We just need a plan."

"Have you thought of anything?" Claire asked, curious.

"If I thought of anything, we wouldn't be having this conversation now would we?"

"Peter must have thought of something. I mean he wouldn't come here without a plan."

"Hm, he was being carried into this house so I highly doubt he was ready to come home."

"Ok, so at this point, we're screwed," said Cole. "But you make a good point, Danni. There are paintings leading up to this day. Something is telling us that we need to pull together and figure it out. Saving Claire was only half of the journey, now we have to stop the exploding man."

I agreed with Cole completely. There was a reason why Isaac painted what he did—to prevent us from making the same mistake over again. I was about to open my mouth when I heard my door open. I expected to see Peter, but instead I got Nathan. Was he ready to speak to Claire so soon? I saw Claire tense slightly at the sight of Nathan.

"Danni," he said. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

I sighed. "When do you never?"

He gave me a long look before I got back to my feet. "I'll be right back guys."

I followed Nathan out of my room. After the conversation we just had, I expected to be done talking but as usual, I was wrong.

Nathan closed the door behind us and turned to me. "You need to go back to school, Danielle."

I crossed my arms. "Well, that was incredibly blunt."

"I'm serious. The campaign is days away now. You need to be in school."

"Or what? I'll be portrayed as that emotionally disturbed girl on crack? So dramatic."

"Please, with all of the things that have been going on for the past couple months this campaign has been the only thing that's been right. You going back to school will ensure that I have a chance of winning."

I resisted rolling my eyes at his statement. All he cared about was winning. "But Peter just got back. Wouldn't this classify as a family emergency?"

"Pete wants you to go back to school too. I just want you to be as normal as you possibly can because God only knows what's going to happen in the next few days."

Great, he just had to pull out the normal card. Nathan did have a good point. The next few days were going to be mind-blowing from what I could tell and might as well enjoy being a boring normal teenager as much as I could.

"Fine, I'll go back," I said to him. "The only reason I missed today was because of Claire anyway."

"I see."

I bit my lip. "You really need to talk to her, you know. It's not just for her, but for you as well. She's special, Nate. It'd be great if you could figure that out for yourself."

"I'll talk to her. There's no question about it," Nathan stated. "I also expect you to be ready for school tomorrow morning. I'll be driving you."

"Remember the last time you offered me a ride?" I smirked. "That didn't end so well, now did it?"

"We're heading straight to school and don't try to convince Peter otherwise."

I saluted him. "Ay, ay, Captain Fly-Boy!"

Nathan only rolled his eyes and began to walk away. "See you in the morning."

* * *

><p>And the next chapter is up! Thanks for reading! Hopefully the next one will be up soon and believe me this next one is not one you want to miss ;)<p>

~Emyrox567


	19. Make Me Wanna Die

Make Me Wanna Die

I guess I could say today started off normal, but I'd be lying. My alarm clock went off a half-hour late—well that was normal then I found myself rushing to get myself ready. Okay, my day _started_ out normal yet it went on as an experience that I would never forget.

Unfortunately, if I had known this waking up this morning I would have at least had a full breakfast. As I said, I rushed to get ready but by the time I was ready Nathan was already pushing me out of the door. I barely even got to see Peter. Unlike the last time he took me to school, Nathan drove his own car to drop me off at school.

I jumped out of the car as soon as he pulled up the curb. "See you later, Fly-Boy!"

"Quit calling me that," he hissed.

"Well, excuse me. You didn't like Nate so I thought I'd shake it up a little."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just don't fool around today. The last thing we need is—"

"Is another screw-up from the Petrelli ward," I finished. "I know. I'll see you after school, Fly-Boy."

I slammed the door behind me before he could respond. To be honest, I just wanted to get this day over with. Sure this was the only connection I had left to a normal life, but school was school. Besides bringing a tornado through my history class, nothing ever happened.

Just as I was about to step forward into the school, a chill ran through my body. School suddenly didn't feel like the safest place in the world anymore—not that it was. You know that weird feeling you get when you feel like you're being watched? Well I was having one of those now. I scanned my surroundings to see if there was anything out of place. I saw the cheerleaders gossiping amongst each other, the skaters showing off their best tricks, the bookworms reading quietly under a nearby tree and the stoners chilling by the corner. From a distance nothing seemed to be out of place. Yet I couldn't stop feeling the way I did.

It was like my sixth sense extended to warn me that danger was ahead. I could feel my heart rate speeding up every moment I spent worrying about who could be watching me. The sounds of my surroundings intensified causing me to ignore my steady breath. Something—someone was watching me. I could feel it.

"And here comes the surprise!" A pair of arms wrapped around my waist.

I screamed in sheer terror as I kicked my back heel into the stranger's stomach. "Let me go! Let me go!"

After a grunt, I was put back to the ground. I turned to find Dylan Harris bent over while grinning with glee.

"Man, you should have seen your face," he laughed. "You were totally freaked."

"Harris," I growled. "You are walking on dangerous territory."

"C'mon, I was just kidding around. I didn't think I could scare Danielle Petrelli anyway."

I took in a deep breath. My panic was for nothing. Somehow I must have felt Dylan coming…yeah that was it.

"Seriously, are we twelve?" a voice exclaimed beside me.

I looked over to see Ava with her hands on her hips.

"C'mon, it was just a joke," Dylan defended.

She rolled her eyes. "You grabbed her from behind and picked her off of the ground. In a city like this, that's called attempted rape."

Dylan opened his mouth to say something, but Ava was already guiding me into the school.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You seemed really spooked when he grabbed you like that."

"I'm fine," I told her. "There's just a whole lot going on right now."

"Listen," Ava sighed. "I'm sorry for being a jerk lately."

I froze. Why was she apologizing? I should be the one apologizing to her.

"It's just that I may have gotten a little jealous when I saw that you were spending more time with Cole than me. I'm not trying to sound conceited or anything, but I just felt like the third wheel. I understand that you have a lot on your plate and in situations like that you can only talk about it once and what I'm trying to say is if you ever want to talk about anything, you can come to me. And if I'm getting too personal, all you have to do is be snippy and I'm done. Does that make sense?"

Great, leave it to Ava Shah to make me feel like the bad friend here. She was letting me lie to her until I could tell her the truth which was going to be close to never. Then again, I felt that there was a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders. I would still have my friendship with her despite having to lie to her repeated about what I could do.

"It makes perfect sense," I forced a smile. "Thank you."

Ava smiled in relief. "I'm so glad I have my friend back!"

"When did I ever go away?"

"Good point. Let's get to homeroom before we're late."

I nodded as I followed her. Maybe today wouldn't be too bad.

We slipped into our usual seats and waited for the bell to ring. My homeroom teacher happened to be my history teacher, so I got twice the fun from him daily. Note the sarcasm. It's not like I hated him, but I got the constant feeling that he wasn't a fan of me because of my repeated naps in his class. What? I've fallen asleep in history class since day one, sue me.

Cole slide into his seat behind me as the bell rang. "And he sticks the landing."

"What took you so long?" I asked him. He was usually at school earlier than I was.

"I got something in the mail this morning." Cole pulled out a wrapped package and handed me a note attached to it. "Read this."

I glanced at the yellow sticky note. _Here's a few new issues of a set of comic books I thought you'd might like. I hope these help for future reference.-Isaac_: it read.

"So you got a set of new comic books," I mused as I handed the note back to him. "Awesome."

"Even better," Cole held up the sticky note. "I got his autograph!"

"Who's autograph?" Ava questioned. I almost forgot she was there. Here I go again being the bad friend.

"Isaac Mendez," Cole explained. "Danni and I ran into him one day."

"The author of the _9__th__ Wonders_ comic books?"

"Yep, that's him."

"Which edition did he send you?"

"I'm about to find out." Cole ripped the package covering the comic books. "I should have known."

"Which one is it?" Ava asked, anxiously. "Is it Hiro?"

"Nope. _Air Maiden_."

Cole showed the shiny comic book cover of the animated version of me and Cole. I was running with my powers while Cole was holding on for his life.

Ava looked closely at the drawing. "Hey, that kind of looks like you guys."

"No, it doesn't," I answered too quickly.

"No, sure it does. See, she has the same features as you and the guy looks a lot like Cole when he was on the spinning ride last summer."

"I did not look like _that_," Cole said with a slight squeak to his voice.

Ava and I looked at each other and then to Cole. I chuckled at the memory of Cole holding on to the wall of the ride for his dear life. I even have the picture to prove it. Before I could say anything about it though, I booming voice interrupted me.

"Okay, class calm down," the voice said.

I turned around and froze. In front of the class stood not Mr. Jenkins but Zane Taylor, the man was an aid to Mohinder's human guinea pig project. What was he doing here in _my_ homeroom?

That question was quickly answered. "I'm Mr. Taylor. I'm filling in for your teacher, Mr. Jenkins because of a certain duty he had to attend to. Now, if you don't mind me asking, what is it that you actually do in homeroom?"

"Wait in Limbo until first period comes," Dylan said.

Zane chuckled at Dylan's outburst. "Okay, it does say here to let you talk amongst yourselves so if you could be quiet for me to take attendance then I'll let you be."

I tried to stay as calm as I could as he called out attendance. Zane could possibly have a teacher's degree and live in New York. Yeah, that's it.

"Danielle Petrelli," he called out.

I raised my hand, "Here!"

I saw Zane smile slightly before calling out the next name. Something didn't seem right. There was something off about him. Although I barely had a five minute conversation with him, I could tell Zane was not the most outgoing of people. Zane coming here seemed to be a little bit off. If Mohinder gave up, wouldn't he have as well?

When he finished taking attendance, he held up the sheet. "Who would like to take this to the attendance office?"

Ava rose from her seat. "I will, Mr. Taylor."

Zane handed the sheet to Ava and went to sit in Mr. Jenkins' desk. I turned to Cole who mouthed: "Is that him?"

I nodded my head and whispered, "I have no idea how he got here."

"Maybe the same way he got into the counselor's office."

"Maybe. Hopefully, he's not here to convince me to a part of Mohinder's science experiment."

As if it was on cue, my phone began vibrating in my pocket. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was unknown.

I took the empty seat behind Cole. "Cover me."

Cole nodded, opening the new comic book in the air enough to hide me.

With my head almost on the desk, I answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Is this Danielle Petrelli?"

I recognized that Indian voice, but why was he calling? "Dr. Suresh? What are you doing calling me during school?"

"I'm sorry to have interrupted, but I called to warn you."

"Warn me about what?"

"When I was carrying your brother's body, I wasn't thinking clearly. All I wanted to do was get us out of there before Sylar woke up again. Before Sylar and I got into that fight…I-I left your files on my desk. We were planning on confronting you sometime in the future, but that was before I found out that he wasn't who he said he was. Anyway, I came back to my apartment to find both Sylar and your files gone."

"Gone? What do you mean gone?"

"Sylar took them. I looked all over my apartment, but they were nowhere to be found. I'm sorry."

My heart nearly dropped to the floor. "So he could be here now?"

"Most likely. I'll contact your family to convince them to get you out early, but in the meantime avoid all contact with him."

"Great advice, Doc. I never would've thought to never go near a psychopathic serial killer! But you see the problem is that I have no idea what this guy looks like."

"Is there anything out of order at your school? Or out of the ordinary?"

"There is a sub in homeroom, but I'm not sure if…"

"What does he look like?"

Before I could answer him, I heard a horse cough behind me. I looked to see Mr. Taylor staring down at me.

I smiled guiltily at him. "It was an emergency."

"If it was an emergency," he said, "then you should've informed me of this right away."

"I'm sorry…I didn't think…"

He held out his hand. "You can explain it to me after school."

Defeated, I hung up the phone and placed it in his hand. He left without another word.

"Sorry," said Cole. "He was over here before I even noticed."

"It's okay. I've got bigger problems to worry about."

Sylar was here. That was the chill felt this morning. Did Zane know? Was he here to warn me as well? The monster in my nightmares was becoming a reality. I just hoped that I was fortunate enough to escape his grasp as Claire was. Before Cole could question my strange phone conversation, Ava came back so he continued to read the new comic book. Ava and I spoke about the upcoming Algebra final until the bell rang for first period. I nearly sprinted out of the class with Ava to get away from Zane. But what was the point? I was going to see him for history and I still had to retrieve my phone after school.

I was able to keep my sanity long enough for lunch to roll around. The minute my math class released me I searched for Cole in his newspaper class. I found him typing on the computer in the school news room.

"Cole, we have a problem," I stated.

"I'll say," he mumbled. "I have to spend lunch watching the debate team practice and write the article before tonight's deadline."

"I'm serious. This is a very…special problem."

Cole tore his eyes from the computer and looked at me. "What is it?"

I looked around the news room to make sure no one was listening and hissed: "Sylar. He's here."

His eyes got bigger than I've ever seen him. "Here, here? As in school here?"

I frantically nodded my head.

"You need to get out of here," he hissed to me.

"I can't. I have to keep up the image, remember?"

"Well, screw Nathan. This is your life we're talking about here."

"Mohinder said he would try to call my family to get me out of school, but so far that doesn't seem to be working. Angela's probably ignoring his calls and Peter most likely doesn't have his phone."

Cole turned off his computer and gathered his things. "That's it, you're coming with me. I'm not leaving you alone with that psycho walking around here."

He linked his arm in mine before I could say anything else. Cole dragged me back towards the very place I was trying to avoid the whole day: Mr. Jenkins' classroom. I forgot he was the supervisor for the debate team. Oh well, I guess this would be three times a day that I would see Zane. After briefly speaking to the debate team captain, we sat in back of the classroom.

"We came on a good day," Cole told me with excitement in his voice. "Today is their fun debate so they can debate anything related to fiction. It's whether or not the mutants in X-Men deserved to be treated as terrorists."

My head fell into my hands. "Kill me now."

"It's not that bad. I gave the captain a couple of interview sheets to fill out, I have to take notes during the debate and then all I have to do is take a few pictures."

"And this is what you call interesting news?"

"Hey, I'm not aiming for the front page."

Zane entered the classroom before our conversation could continue. "Sorry, I had to run out for a bit. The lunch line was longer than expected."

The captain, Logan nodded his head. "It's cool. All you have to do is chill out while we practice. Besides we're still missing a couple of people…"

Brooke Hampton suddenly burst in through the door. "Sorry, I'm late. I had some things to take care of."

"You always have things to take care of. We're just missing Dylan and Ava now."

"Brooke is in the debate team!" I hissed to Cole.

Cole shrugged innocently. "I didn't know. I was the last to pick the club I could do the story on because I brought food into the computer lab one time."

I shook my head. I wasn't about to argue with Cole. I had a feeling I would be doing that a lot with Brooke. Not long after Brooke entered the room Ava came in with Dylan pulling him by his ear.

"Why do I have to be here again?" he moaned.

"This is the type of detention Mr. Jenkins offered you, remember?" said Ava.

"Couldn't I be in a silent classroom alone like regular detention?"

"No. That would be too merciful."

"I just threw spit wads at the white board. What was the harm in that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just you asking that explains why the situation was so wrong. Not to mention there were victims such as me, Danni and Mr. Jenkins."

"If it's any consolation I was aiming for Danni the whole time."

I scoffed. "Gee, thanks."

Everyone turned their attention to me. I guess no one really noticed me until I spoke up. Joy. I could've remained invisible this whole time it wasn't for my big mouth. I saw Brooke give me a suspicious smirk while Zane's eyes once again sparkled with interest. Once again, I felt cold and frantic. My sixth sense was panicking at the fact that danger was close yet I should have been fine with my classmates around me…right?

"Oh," Dylan held his look of surprise. "Did you get roped into the debate too, Danni?"

"No. I'm just here to show moral support for Cole, the one who decided to wait at the last minute to do his assignment," I explained.

Cole held up a hand. "I'm not even going to argue."

"All right," Logan coughed. "Since everyone is here now, we should get started."

I dazed off as the debate went on to senseless babbling to me. I wasn't really paying attention to what they were saying, but I could see how the debate was going by the expressions on their faces. Brooke held that smug smile which told me that her side was winning while Dylan looked disinterested in the argument as I was. My boredom was getting to the point where I was about to fall asleep, but a voice stopped me.

"Bored?"

I jumped slightly at the sight of Zane sitting in the desk next to mine. "Yeah."

"You don't like watching debates?" he inquired.

"Not really."

"Well, I thought you would think that this one would be interesting since you can relate."

I shifted uncomfortably. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean," he smirked at me. "Deny all you want, but I know who you are."

Once again, I found something off about Zane. It was like he was using some sort of sick method to get me to admit that I was different.

I glared at him. "No, you don't. Not even close."

He laughed. "You're not that hard to figure out, Danielle. A rebellious teen who believes that she can do whatever she wants because she hasn't got a mommy or daddy to stop her."

"If I really was what you say I am, I would be kicking it with the stoner kids and getting wasted every night. You still don't know me." I flared at him. This new attitude of his was beginning to drive me insane.

"I may not know you, but I'm just about the only person who can understand you."

I opened my mouth to refute the statement, but instead a loud shrieking scream came out. I looked over to see Brooke and a side of her face covered with mashed potatoes.

"Okay, who did it?" she screamed to the room.

I held back a smile. Whoever did it had my respect for a lifetime. I glanced over to smile at Cole yet when I did he wasn't looking up at all. His head was bent down towards his backpack as he was zipping something inside. He rubbed one of his hands on his pants revealing it to be the same potatoes on Brooke's face. He threw the mashed potatoes at her? But why?

"Petrelli!" Brooke's shriek tore my attention from Cole. "You did it, didn't you?"

"No, but I wish I did," I smirked. "I do have to say the whole carb look works for you."

I wasn't going to rat out Cole. That was not even an option, but poking fun at Brooke would definitely be a bonus.

She sneered marching up to me. "Yes, you did! You wanted attention and now you've got it."

"It's quite the opposite actually. Oh and I didn't do it."

"The potatoes came from your direction therefore it had to be you."

"She didn't do it, okay?" Cole raised his voice.

"Then who did?"

Just like that, it happened again. _Splat!_ Brooke jolted forward slightly, her face growing red. I looked over to Dylan who was holding the remains of his sloppy Joe sandwich in his hands.

Brooke turned to glare at him. "How dare you."

"Dare? Please," he scoffed. "I've been waiting to do that since last year."

"Fine. If you want to play dirty, we'll play dirty."

Brooke began digging on Cole's lunch bag and brought out a container of apple sauce. Once she took the cap off, she lunged it over to Dylan. The apple sauce landed on Dylan's forehead allowing the rest of the sauce to stream down his face.

The next few words that came out of Dylan's mouth, I knew would mean war: "Food fight!"

All hell broke loose as food flew from one end of the room to the other. Of course I was the odd one out because I was too lazy to pack lunch and I forgot to bring money for food. I would usually get food off of Cole, but he was currently being pelted with mystery meat from the cafeteria. After I was hit with the jelly sandwich and chocolate pudding, I pulled Cole under the desks with me for cover.

"When do you think they'll stop?" I asked.

"Until a teacher comes around most likely," he answered. "If that doesn't stop Brooke, I don't know what will."

"What the hell is going on in here?" a booming voice echoed through the class.

The room went dead silent. Only the drips of apple sauce could be heard. I knew why. I recognized the voice as Principal Walter.

"Well, Mr. Walter," Brooke spoke in the most innocent voice possible. "We were running through our debate when _Danni _threw food at me and told everyone else to as well."

"Where is Danni Petrelli?" Walter questioned.

I went to rise from my crouched position but Cole beat me to it.

"It wasn't Danni," he declared. "It was me."

I jumped up to my feet. "Cole, no—"

"It's okay. I threw the mashed potatoes at Brooke because I was angry about what she said to Danni. I thought it would send a message."

Every word that rolled out of Cole's mouth was a lie. He wouldn't have thrown the potatoes at Brooke if he didn't have a purpose in doing so. And the purpose had to do something to do with me.

Walter stepped back, surprised. "Cole? You started a food fight?"

Cole nodded in response as Dylan smiled smugly.

"I knew my protégé would come to the dark side eventually," Dylan said.

"Of all days, really? While I give the new history teacher a tour of the school?"

From behind a sandy-blond haired man appeared from behind Walter. He gave an awkward wave towards us. "Hey, I'm Alaric Saltzman. I'm the new US history teacher."

My ears perked at the man's old name. It was strange to say the least but I wasn't going to ask. I had bigger problems than to worry about the teacher of the most boring subject in the world.

But of course I could see Brooke drooling on how attractive Alaric was. "Is it too late to transfer?"

Walter waved it off. "A food fight occurred in here people! All of you are going to spend after school cleaning it up and additional lunch detention."

Everyone moaned in response, but Walter obviously ignored this.

"Excuse me, Mr. Walter," Zane spoke up. "Ms. Petrelli already has detention arranged with me after school. Maybe she can serve her time on a different date?"

I froze at the mention of my name. Great, not only was I going to see Zane alone but I was going in alone without any back up aka Cole.

Walter nodded. "Very well. I'll have Mr. Saltzman look over that later this week. Now, if you don't mind, I have to have a word with all of you."

Shortly after Walter's lecture, I found myself waiting in the front office for Cole to get out of Walter's office. My panic was slowly turning into sheer fear. Zane wanted to get me alone, but for what reason? Well, according to our last conversation, it didn't seem very viewer friendly. I needed to talk to Cole about this. If Sylar was lurking anywhere, my first mistake would be to trust a stranger.

Dylan walked into the office and took a seat next to me. "So, what's up?"

"Not much," I mumbled.

"So what was with you freaking out this morning? I mean you always react to whatever I do, but it's never usually screams of fear."

I shrugged trying to play it off as nothing. "I thought you were someone else."

"Like who?"

"Someone…that I thought was following me."

"I know who you're talking about," Dylan smirked.

"You do?" I whispered, shocked.

"Sure. It's that new history teacher."

"What?"

Dylan looked around before facing me again. "I get it. A teacher randomly appears and that's suspicious. Especially since they're the ones who turn out to be the serial killers."

I gave him a blank expression. "Dylan. Are we talking about fiction or real life?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to be cautious here. I suggest you do the same."

"I wish I could," I said under my breath.

Dylan opened his mouth to say something, but Walter's door opening distracted the both of us. Cole walked out with Principal Walter's hand in his shoulder.

"You're a good kid, Cole," Walter said to him. "I don't want you to make a habit of this, okay?"

Cole nodded. "I won't, Sir."

"Good." Walter narrowed his eyes at Dylan. "Come on, Dylan. We have another talk to get through."

Dylan jumped out of his seat. "See ya later, homies."

I followed Cole out of the office and I hissed at him, "You didn't have to do that."

Cole avoided my gaze. "Do what?"

"Start the food fight. I could've handled myself."

"I know, but I overheard your conversation with Zane and it seemed really uncomfortable all together."

"Well, it's going to be extremely awkward when I have to go pick up my phone from him anyway." I sighed. "Besides, I don't think I'm worth a dent in your flawless record."

"You're my best friend, Danni and I'm yours. We do things for each other despite the consequences. I think we've proven that on several occasions by now."

The bell rang for our final class. Cole and I exchanged worried glances. I knew he was hesitant to leave me alone to go to English and then see Zane. Everything was going to be okay. Everything was going to be fine. There were too many people here for Sylar to try anything.

I took in the half-truths I told myself and forced a small smile at Cole. "It's okay, I'll be fine."

"How do we know that?" he gulped. "If we couldn't find out when the cheerleader would be in danger how are we supposed to know if you're safe now?"

"You don't have to. You just have to trust me."

"I do. It's him I don't trust."

I took off the silver heart-shaped locket he gave me for my sixteenth birthday and handed it to him. "Take this. I'll come back for it."

I turned away and began walking to my next class.

"Don't think I'm not going to read about it!" Cole shouted from behind me.

I glanced back to see him holding up the latest copy of the_ Air Maiden_. I rolled my eyes and continued walking. In case you haven't noticed, I wasn't really fond of reading my own future. I mean if everyone could read their future then where was the mystery in it all?

The rest of the class period consisted of me contemplating what would happen during my confrontation with Zane. The idea that he was here to warn me about Sylar was out the window for sure. Maybe he was here to convince me to help with the Genome project. Yet Mohinder mentioned that Sylar was pretending to be someone else in order to have access to people like me. But who? Mohinder had to have more than one partner, right? Not to mention I haven't seen any signs of Sylar anywhere, if there were any.

The final bell rang for the day and I began to gather my belongings in my bag. I slowly stalked towards Zane's temporary classroom (since the others were still cleaning Mr. Jenkins's). There were many times during the trip when I thought I should turn back, but I couldn't find myself to do so. If I wanted to get answers, they needed to start with Zane. Even as I told myself this, I still froze in front of the door of his classroom. The chill that came to me earlier returned with a vengeance. My stomach churned with an unfamiliar poison and my hands slightly trembled.

Of course I didn't take heed to my sixth sense's warnings. I took in a deep breath and opened the door.

Zane looked up from the papers on his desk and smiled at me. "Hello, Danni. I'm glad you came."

"I just came for my phone," I said flatly.

"You'll get your phone back when we're done with our conversation." He gestured to the seat next to his desk. "Now have a seat."

I cautiously took the seat. "Look, I'm sorry for having my phone out in class. It won't happen again."

"That's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

I knew it. "Is that why you took my phone?"

"It did make it easier."

"All right now I'm here," I snipped. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Why you ran out the last time we spoke. You had no reason to."

"I had my own reasons."

Zane leaned closer to me. "But why? I showed you what I could do to try to break the ice in the room yet you still turned your back."

"That doesn't prove anything," I mumbled.

"Yes, it does. You were completely calm throughout the whole situation. Fiery, but calm…like you've seen this kind of stuff before."

"Look, before I say anything, I want to know why you're here," I reasoned with him. "Are you here for Mohinder?"

"No. He and I had a…disagreement with one another. It was just simply coincidental that I was the substitute for your history class."

"So you are certified to teach?"

"Yes," he smirked. "And now that I have answered your question, answer mine."

I relaxed knowing that he was purely curious about me. There was no Plan B or secret behind the truth. I guess since it was fair that Zane poured out his troubles that I should pour out mine.

And that is where my first mistake began.

Here goes nothing. "I was scared. Simple as that. Somebody that actually spent their time to look for me because I was different startled me. I've only lived with this for the past three months so I'm hardly at the acceptance stage. Sometimes I hate myself for what I can do because it just makes my life a whole lot worse."

My eyes fell down to my lap trying to hide the tears streaming down my face. Zane placed a finger under my chin causing me to look up at him.

"How could you think that?" he questioned as if what I had just said was out of the ordinary. "What we are—what we can do…it's special. Haven't you ever wanted to be different—special?"

I shook my head. "No. I want to be normal—be like everyone else."

Zane suddenly sprang from his seat and began pacing in the classroom. "Do you have any idea how boring our world would be then if everyone was the same? It's natural for humans to react negatively at first to something that his different. Think about how people responded to the Salem Witch trials or how the settlers reacted to the sight of Native Americans. We're a part of a new movement in Earth's history and that in itself is…extraordinary."

Zane stopped and looked at me. "Now tell me what exactly it is that you can do that is so bad."

"I don't really know how to describe—"

"Then show me."

I stood up. "Okay so there's no air conditioning on in here right? Not even the windows are open?"

"Correct."

"OK, here I go." I closed my eyes as felt the air around me. As if it was second nature, I let the power that rested within me reawaken.

I opened my eyes to find a small wind current was flowing throughout the whole classroom. I focused my attention on the pile of papers on the desk. If my sneezes were hard to take in then maybe I was holding a lot more air than I knew. I blew on the papers and much to my surprise they flew along with the wind current in the room. I smiled at the sight. I never realized how much control I had over this natural element of nature. Then my smile faded as I remembered that beside the beauty of my power, there was also a dark side. The windstorm in history class proved that much.

I took in a deep breath and put my power to rest. The winds stopped causing the papers to scatter around the classroom. I glanced over to Zane to see his reaction to the event. He gazed around the room still awed by the sight.

"So how was that?" I asked. "I haven't used my ability like that in a couple months, so I might be a little rusty."

"No, it was incredible," he said in a low voice. "The possibilities are endless with this power. Air is on your side which means that you can use it to jump higher, fly, even run faster."

"Possibilities?"

"Yes. With this ability you can almost consider yourself to be invincible."

"Invincible?"

Zane suddenly bore his eyes onto mine. "Yes. This ability is a waste on you, but with me I'll be able to use it to my advantage."

I took a step back. "What are you talking about?"

"I can finally see what makes you tick…but I still need to learn more."

"Learn more of what?" I tried to make my voice sound strong, but it came out as panicked instead.

He chuckled to himself. "Excuse me for being rude. We haven't been formerly introduced yet."

"Yes we have. You're Zane Taylor and I'm Danni Petrelli."

Zane stalked his way over to me, but before he could get any closer I began backing away from him.

"Well, you've been sorely mistaken," he gleamed at me. "The last time we saw each other was in a small town in Texas." My eyes widened. "It was Odessa, I believe, at Union Wells High School. They were having their annual homecoming game…too bad the homecoming queen couldn't come."

It all came back to me. The way he stared at me like I was some sort of prize and the same voice that taunted me in my dreams. He wasn't Zane Taylor. He was the imposter Mohinder spoke of. With a flick of his hand, the open window blinds shut the light out. This was his plan all along: set the trap and kill the victim. No one would come to save me. I would never be able to retrieve my necklace from Cole.

My heartbeat raced as I tried to run from him. The attempt was worthless though because the same invisible force that shut the blinds was throwing me across the room and shoving my back against the wall. I struggled to move out of its grip, but I was weak against the force. I paused and looked at his smug expression. He killed my brother and countless others. I was merely another name to add to his list of victims.

"Sylar," I spat.

"Correct, Danni," he praised. "Now that we've officially met, there's only one thing left to do."

Sylar lifted his free hand up to my forehead. I felt the same force that held me up to the wall tighten painfully on my forehead.

"The faster this is over with, the faster you'll be free of your misery," he tried to soothe.

I closed my eyes before he could claim my life. I thought about my mother and how I would be seeing her again soon. I would be able to feel her arms wrap around me and her soothing words telling me that everything was going to be okay again. Then I thought of Cole and Peter and how much I would miss them. Even though I had just barely gotten to know Claire, I would miss her too. Ava, I would miss as well. I would even miss Dylan. I didn't want to leave them behind, but I had no choice in the matter. I made one mistake and now here I was paying the price.

Suddenly a piercing pain came to my forehead as Sylar began to move his finger along my forehead. I screamed louder than ever before. I felt the warm blood stream down my face. But as fast as the pain came, it quickly became numb. My eyes wandered back at Sylar who seemed to be fighting for consciousness all of the sudden. His eyes rolled and he collapsed to the floor. As a result, I came crashing to the ground.

I didn't know if it was from losing blood or shock, but I didn't realize that someone had caught me before my feet could touch the ground.

"It's okay, I got you," a voice said to me. "I'm not letting you go."

I turned to the owner of the voice. "Cole?"

"Yeah, it's me. It's okay, you'll be okay." He pulled me into a tight hug.

"Cole, how did you—why did Sylar—?"

I caught sight of the crowbar next to Sylar and put the pieces together. He knocked Sylar out before anything else could happen. This was the second time he saved my life that day.

"You saved me," I breathed.

"Yeah, I guess I did."

Sylar groaned next to us. "Ugh…"

Cole pulled me back up to my feet. "That's our cue to leave."

I quickly followed Cole into a run out of the classroom. When we approached the hallway, I had to ask him something. I tugged on his arm causing us to pause for a brief moment.

"Wait, where did you get the crowbar?"

"From the janitor's closet," he answered.

"But how did you know?"

Cole held up the same copy of the _Air Maiden _that he flashed to me after lunch. "I read this during chem and saw that Zane wasn't exactly being honest. But I couldn't warn you in time because Ava pulled me into detention. I snuck out and broke into the janitor's closet."

"But y-you hit him," I stuttered. "You knocked him out cold almost. Do you have any idea how many people he's killed? You could've died if you missed."

"If I didn't come, you would have died. I didn't miss and now here we are breathing."

"Not for long," a voice growled in the hallway.

We looked over to see Sylar glaring daggers at us. While I was frozen to run, Cole pulled both of us into a run.

"I was going to make this easy on you, Danni," he snarled. "But you just had to involve someone else in your mess."

As we ran I noticed that Sylar had not made one step towards us. He had another plan up his sleeve. The lockers began to rattle around us. I stopped in the middle of the hallway against Cole's grip.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Danni?" Cole yelled at me. "We need to run."

The rattling became stronger. "There's no time."

I glanced back at Sylar who had his hands folded in the air. He smirked back at me and began to open his hands.

"Get down!" I screamed as I pushed Cole to the ground and fell myself.

Within moments, papers and textbooks began to pour out of the lockers around us. Without a second thought, I drew in as much wind as I could and deflected the flying objects. I clenched my teeth as I tried to fight against the strong force. The blood from my open wound was once again dripping down my face.

Cole clenched my shoulders. "Danni, stop! Don't see? He's trying to drain you!"

He was right. I could feel the energy slowly fading from me because of the wound Sylar gave me. But if I stopped now, Cole and I would perish under the school textbooks flying around us. I looked around frantically for a way out. When I looked up at the ceiling I noticed a closed window. The craziest idea came to me.

"Cole, I want you to hold on to me," I said.

"How is that supposed to help anything?"

"Don't argue with me."

Reluctantly, Cole wrapped his arms around me. I released any power that I had over the books and used as much air as I could produce to jump towards the window. Cole squeezed me tighter when he realized what the plan was. The books had barely missed my feet as we soared towards the window. Before we could experience the impact of the glass, I took in a deep breath and blew as hard as I could towards the window. The glass shattered above allowing Cole and I to pass through safely.

I continued to fly upwards until we were above the clouds. From there I glided across the puffy surface as fast as I could. When I began to feel lightheaded again, I dipped down under the clouds to find a flat surface to land. I laid my eyes on a grey rooftop and soared down towards it. Thankfully unlike last time I was able to land on my feet. I wobbled a little upon landing, but it was still an improvement from last time.

I looked around on the rooftop and found some sort of familiarity with it. The rooftop was beautifully structured with a stone oval on its rim along with two angels surrounding it while a glass house of plants and a series of bird cages holding pigeons sat upon the roof. I then remembered that this was the Deveaux rooftop, the place Peter used to work.

"Well, that was fun," I heard Cole sigh next to me.

I returned my attention to the situation that just occurred.

I separated from Cole. "Oh, God. We just fought off a serial killer." And just like that everything came crashing down. "I could've died—and you could've died trying to save me!"

"But we didn't," he smiled. "Danni, what you did was incredible. Granted walking straight into his trap wasn't the smartest things to do, but what you did to get us out of there was amazing!"

"What about you though? You don't even have any powers and knocked out the Boogeyman. That's a lot more admirable. Not to mention I wouldn't have been able to make that escape without your help."

"I guess we're a good team then."

"I guess we are."

"Before I forget," he took my locket from his pocket, "I believe this is yours."

I took the locket from him and embraced him. "Thank you."

Cole returned the hug. "You're welcome."

I pulled away from him. "Can I borrow your phone real quick? I need to call Peter."

"Sure," he held his phone out, but he didn't hand it to me just yet. "So what did we learn today?"

"Never talk to a creepy teacher alone."

"And?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't doubt comic books."

"Nice." He handed the phone to me as we began walking inside.

"But I did learn one other thing today."

"That would be?"

"I'm _never_ listening to Fly-Boy again."

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! I told you this was a chapter you didn't want to miss ;) The same story goes for the next chapter since it jumps five years into the future. I personally had a lot of fun writing that chapter because of what happens. Thank you the few who review. It's nice to hear what your thoughts are on the story and I enjoy the compliments.<p>

~Emyrox567

P.S. Yes, this chapter was named after the song by The Pretty Reckless :)


	20. Five Years Gone

Five Years Gone

_Five years later…_

Bright illuminating lights continuously flashed into my eyes. Loud music blasted into my ears as I watched the crowd live the nightlife. Many of them danced with people they barely knew while others stood around the floor. I spun around in my stool facing the bartender.

I handed the money to him. "I'll take whatever you have."

He eyed me suspiciously. "Aren't you a little young?"

"I'm twenty-one. I believe that's the legal age."

The bartender only shrugged. "Just checking. I'll be back with that drink."

I knew that I wasn't supposed to be here, but I couldn't stay in that hole that Nakamura called a loft. Besides I was more than capable of not getting captured. I've slipped out of the government's fingers for the past five years. I was sure that I could slip out of them again if I had to.

The bartender came back with the drink. "Here you go Miss."

"Thank you," I took the drink from him.

I looked back out at the dance floor. Everyone seemed so content. As if being with their friends was all that mattered to them. Memories flooded into my mind as I witnessed this. I smiled at them. It seemed to be centuries ago that I danced with my friends at a place like this. I no longer felt the urge to dance to my favorite song as I did five years ago. Did I even have a favorite song anymore? Had I been torn from society so much that I never found any leisure time unless I was hidden like this? Sadly all of those questions were yes.

Ever since the bomb went off the government had considered people like me to be terrorists. I scoffed at the word. Terrorists? I was only sixteen when I first discovered I was special. There were even people younger than me who made the same discovery. Since then I've been a refugee.

The President had set his dogs on all of us. I was, at a short moment, captured. That was when I first met Hiro Nakamura. He had saved me and many others from being imprisoned forever. He helped me to grow strong after the tragedy that I had endured. Everyone else left, but I stuck around. For a good three years now, I've been helping him go against the government.

"Hello, Miss Petrelli," a smooth voice crawled into my ears. "Long time no see."

I looked up at the man who stood above me. "Why, it's only been two weeks, Mr. Parkman. Did you really miss me that much?"

"Not me, but your brother does."

"I've haven't seen Peter in a long time."

"I wasn't talking about that brother."

I placed my drink on the counter. "Well you can tell him I hate his ass."

"Now you don't have to make this difficult. We can easily walk out of here without making a scene."

I gave a humorless laugh. "You say that every time, Parkman. Obviously the message isn't coming through."

"It should this time. Your brother is growing tired of having me hunt you down."

"So am I, but I can't understand why he persists on seeing me."

"Neither can I. If it was up to me, you would be rotting in a cell now."

I placed my drink back on the counter. "You know, I see what you and Nathan have in common: you're both hypocrites. Imagine if everyone knew what you were. How do you think that would end up?"

Parkman's smirk faded as mine grew. I knew exactly what he was. He wasn't any different than I was. It wasn't that long ago when I met the innocent Officer Matt Parkman who had recently discovered he could read minds.

"But what do you care?" I stepped down from my stool. "You're like me: you've got nothing left to lose."

Something snapped in him that I couldn't understand. His face became red as he quietly trembled. It didn't take long for Parkman to swing his fist at me. I sped out of the way on time causing him to only hit the air.

"Over here," I sang.

Parkman clenched his teeth. "Enough of this, Petrelli. Tell me where Nakamura is and I'll let you go tonight."

"You really think I'm that low? Even I have my morals. Nakamura helped me more than either of my brothers did."

"And it shows. You're freely using your powers and living carelessly as if nothing happened. "

I narrowed my eyes at him. "At least I'm not betraying my own kind."

"If you know what's good for you then you'll come with me."

I playfully tapped my chin. "Hm, let me think about that….no."

"You always have to make this more difficult than it has to be." Parkman slipped out his walkie-talkie and pressed it to his mouth, "Take her in, guys."

Within a mere of a second, someone came up behind me. Before he could grab me though, I jumped backwards landing right behind him. I swiped the tranquilizer gun from his belt and shot it to his back. I could see many dark shadows running around the illuminating dance floor now.

I gave a salute to Parkman. "As fun as this was, Officer Parkman, I really do have to get going."

I sped across the dance floor avoiding the suspicious dark figures holding guns close to their chest. I ran out of the club with barely an effort whatsoever. I could've sworn Parkman was losing his touch. Ever since I decided to become open with my powers, Nathan kept sending Parkman to come get me. Obviously I wasn't so keen to the idea. Nathan was the one who exposed us to the world as the enemy. If he wanted to see me, he would have to come get me himself.

I arrived back at the usual hideout within a minute's time. I looked around to make sure I hadn't followed. Nothing changed since I left. The loft still had long strings with a series of photos hanging over the center. Exactly where the fateful mural of the darkest day in the world was. Being the cliché time traveler Nakamura was he was trying to trace back exactly where everything went wrong.

I felt the whole idea was ridiculous. The topic itself was debatable. Too many things happened and too many people got involved to track down where the turning point was. But if there was one thing I knew about Nakamura it was that once he set his mind to something, there was no stopping him.

I guess the reason why I kept running from this place was because of the memories it brought. Isaac Mendez lived here before Sylar murdered him. Before that, this was the place I discovered my brother would be the one to destroy New York. Of course that was a lie. Sylar ended being the villain in this story. Even on the fifth year anniversary of Sylar's death, we were still suffering the consequences of the life style he chose. Sylar made all of us seem like monsters. I'll admit, if I don't have control of my power people are bound to get hurt. I wouldn't call myself a monster though. I'm just a lost soul trying to find her final resting place.

Realizing how tired I was from the lack of sleep I received the past couple days, I decided to head off to bed.

* * *

><p>I stirred at the sound of footsteps coming near my bed. I opened my eyes to find Nakamura sitting quietly in his bed while giving me a hard stare. He was a short Japanese man with long black hair tied in a low pony tail and would always keep his sword on hand just like I had my gun.<p>

"Looks like you had rough night," he told me.

Nakamura threw me a newspaper article with the title: "TERRORIST ESCAPES LOCAL NIGHTCLUB". Great, here came the lecture.

"OK, so I wanted to get out for a little bit," I shrugged. "Where's the harm in that?"

"You were almost caught."

"Key word: almost."

"This isn't a game, Danielle," he scolded me. "You know your brother is out there looking for you."

"Correction: his dogs are out there looking for me. I guess that's one of the perks of being the worst President of the United States."

"It isn't safe for you to be out there alone. I got you once, but I don't think I can get you out again."

"Then I'll get myself out. Isn't that what I've been doing anyway?" I smirked. "Parkman and his boys haven't been close to catching me for the past five years. What makes you think I'm going to be captured tomorrow or the next day or day after that and so forth?"

"We're just taking precautions. You know what happens those who get caught."

My smirk quickly faded. "Which part? The intense questioning, the jail cell or the bad food?"

I decided not to any more to the comment. The experience itself was scarring. I probably wouldn't be able to talk about it freely until I was at my death bed.

"I'm going to go out and look for food," he announced as he rose from his bed.

I sped up to him before he could make one step out of the door. "Why do you get to go out and I don't?"

"Maybe because I'm not trying to bring attention to myself. If you want to continue staying here, I suggest you do the same."

Nakamura walked out of the door without another word. I swear it was like he was trying to be my father. He had no reason to care for me, so why did it matter to him whether or not I was caught by the government? Oh well, that was an issue that I could easily leave aside. I guess going back to sleep wouldn't hurt anybody.

For the next couple hours, I tossed and turned. There was nothing I could do to go back to sleep. So during that time, I found myself staring at the blank ceiling with no thoughts at all.

_Creak…_I froze as the front door opened. It couldn't have been Nakamura. He always entered through the back door.

"Hello? Mr. Isaac? Mr. Isaac?" a foreign voice echoed throughout the loft.

I quietly slipped out of bed and took the gun out of my pocket. I listened intently to what other things the voice had to say and the movements he made. The lights soon came on. The voice spoke again but in a different language. Japanese, if I remember. Nakamura taught me a couple of things about the language, but I was still rusty. I heard another foreign voice take part in the conversation. Once again, I was at a loss as to what they were saying.

I leaned against the wall to peer inside the main room. There were two men glancing around the room as they spoke their Japanese tongue. One had short messy black hair and wore glasses while the other had neater black hair and wore a security guard uniform. I figured they must have wandered into the wrong place.

I stepped out and aimed my gun out towards them. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?"

The one in glasses held up his hand making the trademark Star Trek symbol. "We come in peace."

"I don't care if you brought a parade with you, I want you out."

"Danni Petrelli?" the one in the uniform questioned.

I pointed my gun towards him. "How do you know name?"

"You're Peter Petrelli's sister. I'm Ando Masahashi**. **We met the night the cheerleader was attacked."

"No, I've never seen you in my life before. If I had I would remember." I sneered at him. "You're one of them, aren't you? Hunting after us like we're the animals."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

I heard a familiar sword being removed from its case from behind me. "Danielle, what's going on?"

In response, I saw the guy with the glasses do the same. I looked closely at him realizing that he looked oddly familiar. He even had the same sword. I glanced back at Nakamura who seemed just as surprised as I was.

Nakamura lowered his sword. "You."

The man with the glasses looked at him surprised. "Me?"

"Danielle, put the gun down."

"Who are these guys?" I questioned.

"Do as I say."

I followed his orders placing the gun back in my pocket. I glanced between the two and put the pieces together. The man with the glasses was Hiro Nakamura from the past.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I moaned. "You brought your alter ego here?"

"No, I didn't." Nakamura faced his past self. "You're not supposed to be here. None of this was supposed to be here."

Nakamura began moving to the other side of the room.

"It was an accident. We time-traveled," the Hiro from the past explained.

"No duh, Sherlock," I muttered.

"What happened to the city?" Ando asked.

Nakamura paused for a brief moment. How far back in time did these men come from? After a moment of silence, Nakamura opened the window revealing the dust of what used to be New York City.

"The bomb," he declared. "The bomb still happened. It was all supposed to change."

"I would tell you I told you so, but we have guests." I looked towards Ando. "By the way, if you call me Danni again, I won't hesitate to shoot."

Ando gave out a nervous laugh as he stepped away from me. "Right. Got it."

I smirked. "Good."

"Five years ago," Nakamura went on to explain, "a man named Sylar exploded in the heart of the city, changing the world forever. I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I had it all beat."

"And yet here we are talking to yourself like we're in another _Back to the Future_ movie. Now I would say that you screwed up along the way, but there is no improvement whatsoever on the situation right now."

"Then how do you explain what's happening now? If I didn't do anything, nothing would have happened."

"Okay so you made a small wrinkle in the fabric of time. That doesn't mean they can change the past. We're still in hell, if you haven't noticed."

Ando then walked up to Nakamura asking him something in Japanese. I shut out most of the conversation since I was hopeless at understanding their native language. I glanced around the pictures on the strings that Nakamura called a timeline. I found myself going to my own timeline. The first article was the one of my mother's fatal car crash and the next was an article of the Petrellis adopting me as their own. I walked down to see photos of my foster family and me, photos of me at my dance competitions, and another article talking about Peter's suicide attempt. I stopped at one though. It was one of me and…Cole Bowman. My hand touched Cole's face, remembering the good times before the bomb exploded. I looked over to see Ando staring at me.

I caught eyes with him and glared. "What are you looking at?"

Ando walked back to Nakamura and Hiro without another word.

Finally the conversation went back to English.

"Save the cheerleader," Nakamura said.

"Save the world!" Hiro finished with excitement in his voice. "You visited Peter Petrelli with this message."

My ears perked at the mention of my brother.

"Yes, did he do it? Did Peter save her?"

"Yes, he did."

"Saved who?" I quirked an eyebrow.

"Claire Bennet," Nakamura quickly explained to me. "Claire is still alive. Which means that Sylar never took her power. Which means you were able to kill him, right?"

"Me? Kill Sylar?" Hiro was taken aback.

"Yeah, the big bad wolf that blew down this whole city. I'm pretty sure if you're him," I gestured to Nakamura, "then that shouldn't be a problem, should it?"

Nakamura ignored my comment and began speaking to Hiro in Japanese. Hiro shook his head which meant that he still had the job to do. It didn't matter to me. The sooner the monster was dead the better. The conversation once again continued in Japanese. I had this constant feeling that he was only doing that so that I didn't have the urge to contradict everything he said. Besides he must have been telling them something about his run-in with Sylar the day that the bomb exploded and convincing his double to kill Sylar himself.

"But I can't go back," Hiro admitted. "I can't control my powers. If I try Ando and I can appear anywhere."

_Bang!_ The front door burst open with Homeland Security agents piling inside.

"Dammit, they must have seen you two coming!" I lashed out at them.

I took my gun out and held it up as I followed Nakamura to the side door. Everything happened fast then. The agents began to flood the main room as Nakamura was fighting to break the lock on the side. I suddenly caught a glimpse of Hiro being held captive by an agent. I went to help him, but I quickly recognized the agent as the Haitian. Even if I tried to help Hiro, I would be powerless against the Haitian. Besides these were Parkman's men. They were out for my blood.

"Danielle, come on!" Nakamura's voice tore me from my thoughts. "Let's get out of here."

I looked away from the helpless Hiro and sprinted towards Nakamura along with Ando. We ran as fast as our natural speed would take us. We were a few blocks out until we finally stopped in an abandoned alley way.

I leaned against the wall taking in deep breaths. "I think we're good here….Our powers should work from here."

"Hey! What's going on?" Ando asked barely catching up to Nakamura and I.

"You didn't clean your tracks," I glared at him. "Now your friend is gone and we don't have a hide out."

I knew I sounded harsh towards the newcomer, but I didn't have time to deal with amateurs.

Nakamura seemed to be just as frustrated as I was. "Get out of those clothes. You're sticking out like a sore thumb."

"And hurry," I said. "They can't be far behind."

Ando did as he was told and began removing his security uniform. "What happened to Hiro? Who was that?"

"Homeland Security," Nakamura answered.

"The government?"

"They're taking him to a special holding facility in Midtown."

"How can you be so sure?"

Nakamura looked at me for a moment. This was the exact place I first met the time traveler.

"Because that's where they take all of the terrorists," he told Ando.

"Why would anyone think Hiro's a…" Ando looked at Nakamura with wide-eyes. "You? A terrorist?"

I smirked at him. "Look who's getting smarter."

"You too?" Ando faced me with the same surprised expression. "But you didn't seem like you wanted to hurt anybody when I met you."

"Look I don't know when you met me, but once the world starting stabbing me the back I decided that it was time I grow up."

Ando then looked back to Nakamura for confirmation of the world's current predicament.

"After Sylar exploded," Nakamura began. "The world became a very dark place. And that is why we need to change it. Get him back so he can kill Sylar."

Ando nodded. "Then let's go get Hiro. You can freeze time. We'll teleport in. Then she can fly us out."

I shook my head. "That's not gonna happen. I don't know if you noticed but your antics have only made things worse."

"No, no, no," Nakamura agreed, "it's not that simple. The Haitian has a way of stopping our powers. We need help. There's only one person powerful enough to get us through."

I perked my head up. I knew exactly who he was talking about. The idea itself was impossible.

"Peter Petrelli," he stated.

"No," I snapped. "He's not going to help us."

"You're his sister, Danielle. He has to."

"That would be great if we actually get to see him. No one's seen him in years and not mention his girlfriend won't let anyone see him. I'm his sister and I haven't been able to see him. That in itself says a couple things."

"We have to try. We're going to Las Vegas."

Before I could argue with him once more, Nakamura placed a hand on Ando's and my shoulder and New York disappeared around us.

When I opened my eyes again I found the familiar scent of cigarette smoke and the sight of flashing lights. This was definitely Vegas. Not only were we in Vegas, but we were right in front of the club Peter's girlfriend worked at. Nakamura and Ando wasted no time going inside. I hesitated for a moment before following behind them. I didn't have a change of heart if that's what you're thinking. I just wanted to see this blow up in Nakamura's face. And poking fun at Pete's girlfriend didn't hurt.

As usual a show was going on during that time. I couldn't turn my head without seeing a woman wearing shorts that barely covered her under area or wearing a top that can be easily classified as a strapless bra.

"This is where we're going to find Peter Petrelli?" Ando questioned as we walked inside.

I rolled my eyes at him. I could see the drool coming down Ando's face. "Don't get your hopes too high, bud."

"No," said Nakamura. "This is where we find his girlfriend."

We followed Nakamura to the seats in front of the stage. Ando's head whirled around the room most likely fanaticizing with the women in the club while Nakamura bore his eyes onto the front stage.

"Now on the center stage, gentlemen," the D.J. announced, "Please give it up for the main event, Jessica!"

All of the men in the room cheered on the woman that strutted out in a feather coat towards the pole ahead. Believe it or not this was the woman we were looking for. Yes, Peter was dating a stripper. Her name was Niki Sanders. She only went by Jessica whenever she went on stage. Peter met her shortly after the bomb exploded. I didn't exactly know what her story was or how my brother fell in love her, but we didn't exactly get along.

"Jessica" continued to do her performance on stage as she threw off the coat revealing her under garments.

"Maybe the future's not so bad," Ando commented.

I scoffed. "You better be looking at her face and not down south, if you know what's good for you."

"Jessica" went on to do her usual routine on the pole. From the men's loud cheering, I could tell that she was a fan favorite among the club. She twirled and slid along the pole until she caught eyes with us. She paused for a brief moment, obviously unhappy about our appearance. To release the tension, I waved my fingers at her.

"Here comes the fireworks," I mumbled to myself.

Shortly after the performance, one of Niki's guards sat us at a booth to meet her. I wasn't exactly looking forward to it, but once again I was powerless to stop Nakamura. Not to mention he was kind of a pushover when it came to Niki.

No longer in her stripper outfit, Niki came marching up to us in her robe and her long blond hair tied in a ponytail. "You have one song, two minutes and five hundred dollars. After that, you're out of here. You got me, Hiro? Danielle?"

Like me, she didn't beat around the bush too often. Hiro and I gave her a nod and handed her the money.

Of course, Ando tried to play the whole I-met-you-before card. "It's me, Niki. Ando. Do you remember?"

"Are you sure that wasn't in your dreams?" I sneered at him. Ando was wasting the very little time we had.

Niki looked at us, amused. "Is this how you're gonna use your time?"

"I need to find Peter," Nakamura spoke immediately. "It's important."

"War's over, General Chow. We lost, remember? Peter's not interested."

"How many times have I had to say 'I told you so' today?" I asked.

Nakamura ignored me. "You could talk to him. Tell him it's about stopping Sylar."

Big mistake. Something inside Niki snapped the same way as I did with Ando referring to me as Danni. She grabbed Nakamura by the collar and hissed at him, "You say that name again and I will break your neck."

I got up from by seat and pushed her arm off of him. "Back off, Blondie."

She glared at me. "Don't tell me you don't feel the same way when you hear that name. You've lost just as much as I have because of that man."

"Don't talk to me about losses. Especially today."

"Why are you helping him? You're just going to get yourself hurt."

I saw Niki's lips moving as she said that, but I only heard Peter's voice. He could be pretend to care about for all he wanted. I knew truth though. He wanted to distance himself from everyone—including me.

"Maybe because he was the only person that didn't abandon me. You can tell Peter that."

Niki moved to leave, but Nakamura stopped her. "Do you know where Bennet is?"

Typical, Nakamura would always find a loophole through the problem. If he couldn't find Peter, he would go for the next best thing.

"Far as I know, he's still rustling cattle in Texas."

Niki left without another word to either of us. I looked over to Nakamura who seemed to be formulating another plan of attack.

"So what's the plan now?" I inquired. "We don't have Peter to rebound the Haitian's influence over our powers. How are we going to save Hiro?"

"We go to Texas," was all Nakamura said in response before getting up.

"So we're just going run around until we find answers, right? Isn't that what you usually do?"

"We can't just go in there, Danielle. We need a plan."

"I get that. But you're just chasing after a dream that's never going to happen."

"Haven't you ever wondered what life would be like if the bomb never exploded?" Nakamura nearly snapped at me.

When I didn't answer him, he continued: "Danni."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What did you just call me?"

"Danni. That's what everyone called you before the bomb."

"If you call me that again, I will suffocate you without laying a hand on your neck."

"Imagine what life was like before bomb. With Peter, Nathan…and Cole."

I paused at the last name he mentioned. I fought the tears that usually came out when I thought about him. And of all days as well.

My lips tightened. "You know, it looks like you got everything under control. No need for my help."

I ran out of the club before he had a chance to stop me. I sped out of Las Vegas and flew back to New York. I hated it whenever Nakamura mentioned his name. It made me think about him making me vulnerable. Besides today was usually the day I spent alone. I just needed to think.

I landed in New York within ten minutes. I walked around the construction sites remembering what was once called the Big Apple. Sometimes I do wish I could go back in time. Something I couldn't admit to Nakamura's face. There many clues handed to us to warn us of the darkest day New York would experience yet none of us listened. If I could travel back in time I would warn Danni to run for the hills before she got attached to anyone.

I soon wondered back to where the explosion took place: Kirby Plaza. Or what was left of it. Ignoring the caution tape, I headed towards the center. As I walked, I could hear the screams, see the terror in everyone's eyes, and feel the heat coming from the bomb. I reached into my pocket and took out the silver locket I wore in my past life.

I closed my eyes. "I wish you could be here with me. There are no friends here, only enemies." I let a tear fall down my cheek. "I hope you're happy where ever you are. It's my fault you're not here with me. I should have never let you get involved." I laid the necklace down on the rubble. "So here's my apology. It's time I let go of the past."

When I turned to leave, I heard rubble crackle. Someone was here. I automatically put my gun up and scanned the area. No one seemed to be present. Maybe it was just my mind playing tricks on me. I turned again, but I never made another step. I felt a jolt of electricity surge through me. I screamed and collapsed to the ground upon impact.

Despite the pain, I resisted to fall unconscious. As I shook uncontrollably, I looked up at my captor. It was a Homeland Security agent.

"Nakamura and Petrelli in the same day," he mused as he bent down. "I guess history has a funny way of repeating itself. Don't move and this will be easier."

The last thing I saw was the agent poking a needle in my neck before I blacked out.

* * *

><p>The next time I was conscious, I was on a softer surface compared to the hard rubble I collapsed on. My eyes fluttered open to find that I was on a couch. I sat up taking in my surroundings. I knew this room too well. As a child, I saw it in my textbooks and many science fiction movies. I recognized the presidential seal on the floor and the oval shape of the room. I was in the President's office.<p>

Then I heard his voice behind me. "John, could you please hold off my calls until I say so? Thanks."

I heard his footsteps approach me, but I didn't have to look back to see who it was.

Nathan smiled down at me. "Oh good, you're up. Are you hungry? I can have Julie bring you something."

"I don't want your food," I sneered. "I want you out of my face."

"Fine. Then we'll skip the small talk."

"Perfect. You've been sending your dogs out on me for the past five years. Why?"

"You're my sister, Danielle." He took a seat next to me. "I want you home."

"I don't know where that is, Nate. But it's definitely not with you."

"You've been living out there since you were sixteen years old. It's time you finally grow up."

"I did grow up," I said. "Probably not the way you want me to, but I know how to survive."

"By becoming a terrorist? The Danielle I know wouldn't think about hurting other people."

"That was five years ago. Ever since you turned everyone against us, I learned how to fight back."

"I was protecting the world." He put a hand on my shoulder. "Look at yourself. You've been running since the bomb went off. You haven't exactly let go as much as you want to."

"You haven't exactly made that easy on me."

"If you come home, Danielle, we'll forget any of this happened. You'll go to school, meet new friends and you'll have the family you've always wanted."

I let the ultimatum sink in for a few moments. Nathan made it sound so easy compared to the life I chose to live. I could be normal for once in my life. Then I think of Nathan himself. It wasn't often he said what he actually meant. Plus there was the ever present issue of being hunted down by the government. He could easily send his dogs back on me. And there was also the issue of harboring hatred towards the man.

"No," I said as my final answer.

He quirked an eyebrow. "No?"

"I said no, Nathan. Do you want me to pull out a dictionary?"

"But why?"

"I don't trust you."

"Danielle, I promise I won't have people looking for you anymore."

I gave a harsh laugh. "Well that's a lie. You've wanted me to rot in a cell since I joined Nakamura."

"That's not true, but there's something else bothering you about me. Isn't there?"

"Yes." I stood up. "For the past five years, I've grown to hate you. I blame myself more than anything for trusting you, but you're the one that decided not to do anything. You knew the bomb was going to go off months before it happened and you did nothing! You just stood by as thousands died that day! You were supposed to be our leader, Nathan. You were supposed to help us, not shoot us down."

"The bomb was inevitable. I had to do something."

"You did nothing! Sylar might have gone nuclear, but it was you that killed all of those people. You killed mothers, fathers, children, students, doctors, friends and more. You killed Cole, for Christ's sake. He died in that bomb because he believed that we could stop it. He died because he had faith in me for having faith in you!"

Nathan got up from his seat and gripped my shoulders. "I'm sorry that he's gone, Danielle, but it's for the best."

I glared at him. "The best for who? Your career? Does it always have to come down to that? I loved him, Nathan. He was a person not a tool for your career."

"So I guess this is goodbye then."

"More like good riddance."

"Very well then."

A knock came at the door.

Nathan turned to the door. "Come on in. She's all yours."

Agents began to pour into the office, surrounding us. Nathan took a step out of the circle as if nothing happened. Once a liar, always a liar. I went to pull out my gun, but then quickly realized that there was nothing there. They must have pulled it out when I was unconscious. All of the agents pointed their guns at me. I didn't know what was going to happen next, but I wasn't going down without a fight.

The minute the guns fired, I jumped up in the air to avoid their impact. Thankfully, they were only tranquilizers so I didn't have to worry about dying. The agents continued to fire at me as I missed as many of the tranquilizers as I could. I did more than just evade the attack though. I stabbed many of the agents with the tranquilizers aimed at me. Then just as I thought I was winning, I was grabbed from behind and thrown against the book case.

The agent pointed his gun at me. "Looks like the tables have turned, Petrelli. You're at our mercy like the rest of you freaks should be."

I could tell from the exterior of the gun that it held bullets not tranquilizers. This was it. I was too weak to move out of the way quickly enough and the gun was aimed at my heart. I closed my eyes not wanting this to be the light sight I'll see. I imagined my mother and Cole instead. _Bang!_ I braced myself for the short piercing pain I would feel before death, but nothing came.

Instead I felt myself being in the arms of someone. Maybe death was shorter and painless than I thought it was.

"Cole?" I said to the person holding me in their arms.

"No, it's me, Peter," the voice said.

I opened my eyes to see Peter staring down at me. His appearance changed slightly when I last saw him. Compared to the warm face I would always look to five years ago, his structure seemed cold and stern. His black hair was slicked back and a large scar ran across his face.

I was speechless to say the least. "Peter? How?"

"I followed you from the club. When I saw those agents take you away, I knew exactly where you were going. All I had to do was wait for the right time and teleport you out of there." He then set me on a soft surface. "There you go. I'll go get some bandages to treat your cuts."

I pulled his arm to stop him from going anywhere. "Have you been in Las Vegas this whole time?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you let Niki lead me to you?"

"I didn't want you to get hurt," Peter whispered. "Nathan's been going after me too."

"But why didn't you come looking for me? When I was all alone, why didn't you come looking for me?"

"I knew as long as you were with Hiro, you were in good hands. Although I didn't expect you to act out this much."

Peter added a small chuckle to imply that it was a joke, but I stared blankly at him. I couldn't openly hate Peter as much as I do to Nathan. He was my true brother. I never stopped caring about him.

"Peter, did you save her?"

Peter stepped aside to reveal Ando's face of relief. Ando was here? Did that mean Nakamura was here too?

"What's he doing here?" I asked Peter.

"They had a run-in while they were in Texas," Peter explained. "While I was waiting for you, I went after them."

"So you're going to help them then? Break the past Hiro out?"

Peter nodded. I didn't ask for his reasons because I felt that was unnecessary. Nakamura got his wish.

"What about you?" he asked me. "Are you going to help?"

"I…I don't know."

Peter nodded as his response. "I'll go get those blankets for you, Ando. And Danni, are you sure you don't want those cuts treated?"

"It's fine. They're thin so they'll heal fast."

Once Peter left I looked up to Ando to see he was staring at me once again. "OK, seriously, why do you keep staring at me?"

"Sorry," Ando said, flushed. "You just seemed more different when I met you…"

"Five years ago? I know. Things change and people change."

"Then how come you're so hostile to everyone except Peter?"

"Because I'm afraid." The words escaped my mouth before I could even think about it.

"Afraid of what?"

Oh, well. Might as well get on with it. "Caring. I lost a good friend in the bomb that day. I'll never forgive myself for letting him come along."

"Cole, right? I met him too when you came in with Peter. He seemed like he was a good friend."

"He was. I just wish he could have chosen a better friend than me."

"I'm sorry for what happened. We're going to stop that from happening. You can count on that."

I shook my head. "No offense, but I'm tired of empty promises and I'm tired of waiting for them to come true."

Peter returned with the blankets and handed them to Ando.

"Thank you," Ando said.

It was then I noticed Nakamura's unconscious body lying on a table. I guess the government got him too for a moment.

"Is that really you, Ando?" Peter questioned.

"Why are you so surprised to see me?" Ando looked at him confused.

"He didn't tell you?"

"What?"

"You're dead."

That's when I remembered Nakamura telling me that he lost a friend in the bomb as well. Unlike me, he didn't give out a name. I guess it was too painful for him to think about as much as it was painful for me to think about Cole.

Ando paused. "How?"

"In New York. The bomb."

"Really?"

Peter sat in a chair next to mine. "Do you remember how he used to be? All full of hope and optimism?"

"Of course. That's the Hiro I know."

"He went away the day you died. You know, between the three of us, I think you're the reason why he became so obsessed with trying to change it all back. He wants to save you."

That would explain why he put up with me the past three years. Nakamura understood the transformation I was going through and the loss I experienced. I would never be the same person again.

The front door opened as someone came inside. "Hey, baby, are you in here?"

I looked over to see Niki who was surprised at Peter's company. She exchanged a look of confusion with each of us before disappearing in the back.

Peter got up from his seat. "I'd better go talk to her. But before I forget." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the sliver locket I meant to leave in New York. "You left this."

"No," I said. "I meant to leave it there for Cole."

"Cole would want you to have this."

He held out the necklace once more until I reluctantly took it from him. He left the room without another word to any of us. I stared at the necklace as if I could see Cole inside of it. It still surprised me that he was gone for this long. Through the constant pain I received when I thought about him, the only question I've asked is why me? Why did he die while I lived?

"You can help, you know," Ando said suddenly.

I turned my attention to Ando. "What?"

"Help break Hiro out. The more help the better."

"I don't know. It seems like a lost cause to me."

"It's not a lost cause if we can stop the bomb."

"You sound so much like Cole did. He had too much faith in me than I could give."

"That's not true. Think about it this way: would you give anything to spend one more day with Cole?"

I was stunned by his question. Not even Nakamura put it in those terms when he was trying to explain to me that he was going to fix what happened.

"Yes," I said.

"Then think about the possibilities if the bomb never happened. I don't know where you would be, but Cole would live and I have a feeling that's all you care about at this point."

Not a day went by that I would imagine my life without the bomb. I would have gone to college, met someone and had a family. But most of all Cole would live. Where he would go, what he would do was still a mystery, but he would be alive and free to make his own decisions. He was more than a friend to me when he was alive—especially when I discovered I was special. I owed him my life.

I nodded. "You're right, Ando. I still believe that this whole time warp thing is a joke, but it's still a chance to start over. Cole was there for when I discovered what I could do and told no one about me. I, at least, owe him my effort to help you guys."

Ando smiled. "That's great. Thank you."

"Oh and…I'm sorry about threatening to shoot you earlier. A fiery temper is usually one of my key traits."

"It's…uh…OK?"

I chuckled at his reaction. "You don't have to forgive me, you know. I'm used to it."

"No, you've been through a lot. I understand. But I have to admit, you seemed scary when you yelled at Hiro and I."

"There's nothing to fear, but fear itself. Remember to put that on one of your fortune cookies."

Ando laughed at my statement and turned his attention towards Nakamura's sword. He seemed to be hypnotized with it as I was with my locket. He reminded me so much of Cole. He was confident in his best friend that he would save the world. Ando didn't seem to judge Hiro for what he was either. Slowly, I fell asleep in the couch I sat in.

I woke at the sound of loud shouting. I looked Nakamura (who was now awake as I was) and Ando, but they were just as confused as I was. I recognized the shouting voices as Peter and Niki yet I couldn't tell what they were saying. From Niki's reaction, I could tell she was not happy with Peter taking us in. Then just as fast as the shouting came, it disappeared. I glanced over to Peter who was marching over to us.

"Is everything okay?" Ando asked.

"No," Peter answered sourly. "Let's go fix it."

I jumped up from my seat and followed after Peter.

"If we want to break in, our best shot is during the ceremony," Peter informed us.

"Agreed," I said.

Peter turned back at me, surprised. "You're coming?"

"If I have a chance at saving Cole, I'm taking it. No question about it."

"All right. Hiro, you teleport Ando and I'll teleport Danielle."

"But they took my gun. How am I supposed to defend myself?" I questioned.

"You can manipulate air. Use your imagination."

Peter placed a hand on my shoulder and when I blinked we stood inside the facility in Midtown. I turned to find that we were right in front of the front desk. We had good timing. From the small television on the desk, I could tell that Nathan already started his speech. It only took a few moments for the security guards to realize who we were and sound the alarms.

"Should we freeze time?" Nakamura asked Peter.

"No, I haven't had a good fight in years," Peter replied.

I smirked. "And so the fun begins."

All of us split up to deal with a portion of the Homeland Security agents that came our way. I blew most of the agents against the wall knocking them out in the process. As for the ones I did hand-on-hand combat with I used many of the combat moves Nakamura taught me adding my powers in the process. Once I was done, I scanned my area to make sure there wasn't a conscious agent. There wasn't any so I followed Nakamura in case he needed back up.

We ran into Peter, who thankfully cleared the elevator for us. Ando then caught up with us.

"Upstairs our powers will be blocked by the Haitian," Nakamura reminded us.

"We need to take him out so that the other Hiro can teleport out of here," Peter said.

"But there are guards up there," Ando pointed out. "Won't they be waiting for us with guns?"

Everyone knew the answer to that. I would bet anything that Parkman was waiting up there with his men. How we were going to get up there without a bullet in any of our heads was the question.

"I'll go up first," Nakamura volunteered. "After a minute I want you to teleport after me."

Peter nodded in response. We watched as Nakamura stepped into the elevator. I knew he had a plan up his sleeve, but I could help feeling uneasy about the whole situation. One screw up and we could all be dead. The elevator doors closed and we began to time a minute.

"Are you ready to do this?" Peter asked.

"C'mon Pete, you know I can do this," I smirked. "I've been ready for the past five years."

"And Hiro is up there," said Ando. "I'll do anything to save his life."

"Yeah, before you turn on the best-friend's-hero mode, I suggest you stick behind us."

"That's been enough time," said Peter. "Let's get up there now."

Peter placed a hand on both of our shoulders and teleported us to the upper level of the facility. We were beyond the elevator entrance where Parkman's men were most likely expecting us to be. Signs of Nakamura running through here were clear as well. Many of the dead bodies of the agents were scattered around the hall. Using that as our breadcrumbs, we hurried down the hall to meet Nakamura.

As I ran, I saw a stray agent charging towards us. Before he could even get close to us, I held out my hand forcing a large wind current his way. He hit the ceiling and went unconscious by the time he hit the ground. I found Peter and Ando staring at me.

"What? I said I could handle this."

"Maybe you don't need that gun after all," was all Peter said before continuing our path.

I smiled a little before following behind him. It felt good to have him back again. We finally approached the room where they interrogated the terrorists. Where Hiro was more than likely to be in. With the exception of one agent (which Peter easily threw out of the way), we were able to slip in the room without any trouble.

We found Nakamura standing in front of Mohinder Suresh, another face I had not seen in a long time. I looked over to find Hiro unharmed. We were closer than ever to stopping that bomb now.

"Mohinder," Peter said casually to him.

Mohinder stared at us in surprise. "Peter? Danni?"

I gave a short wave in response.

Ando came running into the room shortly after we did. "Hiro!"

"Ando!" Hiro beamed at his best friend.

The reunion was brief though as there was still an issue at hand.

"You need to go back now," Nakamura informed them.

"But how do I return to the right moment?" Hiro asked, panicked. "I don't know how to do that."

"I'll take you."

But before Nakamura could even reach Hiro, gun shots rang out. It only took one glance to see the blood stains on Nakamura's attire. I stood there, shocked. He had come close to being shot—scratch that—he's been shot before, but never in the heart. This was it though. The minute he turned his back, the agent behind the doorway took his shot aiming to the no point of return. I looked back to see that the agent was Parkman himself.

Peter shut the door before Parkman could shoot anyone else. I turned my head back in Nakamura's direction to find that he had collapsed in Ando's arms. Nakamura stared at Ando before closing his eyes and taking his final breath.

"Pete, he's gone," I said.

"I know," he responded, leveled. "Just stay strong, okay? We'll get through this."

Then the unexpected happened. A hand fazed through the door grabbing Peter and pulled him to the other side.

I ran to the door, banging on it. "Peter, no! Give him back you sick bastards!"

I felt the door jolt towards me realizing that without Peter holding it down with his powers, the less time Hiro had to get away. All of the sudden my life no long mattered. I was going to be dead soon. The least I could do was help to save the world.

I marched up to Hiro as soon as Mohinder handed him the sword. "Look, I don't care if you end up in the Stone Age. Get out of here now."

"Danni, I need help holding the door," said Mohinder.

"Just give me a second and I'll be there."

Mohinder didn't argue with me as he ran to the door.

I looked to Ando. I had to try one thing. "Ando, if you really met me five years ago, could you tell her something?"

"Anything," he said automatically.

"Don't give up without a fight. Good luck trying to stop the exploding man."

I sprinted towards Mohinder without another word to the Japanese men. "OK, Doc. I'll try to block the door, but it won't be as powerful as Peter's, okay?"

With all of the power left within me, I gathered as much air as I could and applied it as pressure to the door. The opposing force on the other side was growing stronger. I quickly began to see blue and red lights fighting to come into the room. I felt myself grow weaker every moment that I held on to the door. Blood began to trickle from nose down to my face. I glanced over to yell at Hiro and Ando to go, but by the time I did, they were gone.

I let go and after the bright lights blinded me, all I could see was darkness.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading!<p>

~Emyrox567


	21. The Countdown

The Countdown

_Present Day…_

"Ow! Would quit poking that thing into my head?!" I flinched as Peter was applying stitches to the cut I received from Sylar.

Peter was more than relieved to receive my call. Apparently Mohinder called the house and Angela ignored the phone because she believed that he was still trying to get me to be a part of his science experiment. After a fifth attempt, Peter finally picked up the phone but by that time school was over and I was in Sylar's hands. The world hates me, okay.

Shortly after my call, we caught a cab and headed straight towards the Mansion. Peter didn't waste any time in treating my wound despite all of the questions he most likely harbored. Cole, on the other hand was stuck with the task of explaining everything that happened to Angela, Nathan and Claire. Poor kid. I was still a little lightheaded, but now that I wasn't using my power I didn't feel so dizzy. That still didn't mean I was a fan of stitches. I was glad that Peter had the materials on hand though.

Peter smiled in amusement at my reaction. "Relax, I'm almost done."

I took in a deep breath as he continued to sew my head. Thankfully Sylar didn't slice my entire forehead like I had seen in my nightmares. The cut barely made it past half of my eyebrow if you really want to know that much.

"And we are done," Peter said. "How are feeling?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. I mean is it bad if I say I'm doing OK?"

"No, that's good. It means he didn't get to you."

"But it was more than that. I used my powers to save myself and Cole. Something I never thought I'd do. Even before that, Cole saved me. He knew that if he messed up, that would be the end yet he still went in to save me."

"Well Cole cares for you more than you give him credit for obviously. As for the powers, that's great. The more you use your powers, the more control you'll have over them."

"I just can't believe that this happened. I mean I'm not the popular girl at school nor am I a complete loner. I tried to stay as normal as possible, but Sylar still showed up."

Peter put a hand on my shoulder. "It's not your fault, Danni. It's his for coming after you. Now, I think we should go help Cole out. Mom and Nathan are probably grilling him."

I nodded in agreement as I followed Peter out of the kitchen and into the living room. Cole stood in front of Angela and Nathan who were propped up on the couch while Claire stood a small distance from them. She probably still wasn't comfortable with them just yet. I lived with these people for four years now and they still gave me the chills at times.

Nathan looked over at me. "And she lives. How are you feeling?"

"A little better," I said. "Although, it makes me think twice about going to school."

Nathan didn't respond to that. I didn't care whether he felt guilty about the situation or not. He didn't know that Sylar would make his appearance right when I was needed at school. Despite the whole situation being selfishly driven, I did not blame him.

Angela broke the silence in the room. "So what are we going to do now? Sylar is obviously making everything impossible."

"He's coming more out in the open," Peter stated. "I think the best thing for Danni right now is for her to miss school for a while. Cole as well because he confronted Sylar."

"Great, this is just what we need two days before the election," Nathan grumbled.

"So we'll pretend to be sick for the rest of the week or so," I snipped at Nathan. "It's not going to damage your campaign."

"I know. It's just a minor setback."

"All right," said Angela. "It's decided then: Danielle and Cole will not return to school until it is safe. In addition, Cole will have to stay here with us in the guest room."

"Wait a minute," Cole held up his hands. "What am I supposed to tell my parents? They'll wonder where I'm at."

"You're young and creative. Think of something."

Angela left the room without further explanation.

Cole ran a hand through his hair. "Jack is going to see right through me. I'm already on thin ice with him."

"Just tell your brother and your parents that you have to stay over at a friend's house to work on a project for a few days or that rehearsals run late this week so you have to stay at a friend's house," Nathan suggested.

Nathan would be expert in lying. Cole nodded his head. "Yeah, I'll just think of something I guess."

"Well I need to fill out a couple of things so if you'll excuse me."

Nathan left the room just as quickly as Angela did.

"This has been an interesting day," I commented. "I faced off with a serial killer and Cole faced off with the Addams Family."

Claire walked up to me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks."

"But you almost died."

"Well, I didn't and I have Cole to thank for that."

"I don't mean to break up a moment or anything, but you need your rest if you want those stitches to be healed," Peter half-ordered.

I sighed. "Once a nurse, always a nurse."

"C'mon, you'll have plenty of time to talk to Claire and Cole after you've rested."

"OK, you can seriously drop the nurse act. I'm going upstairs now."

* * *

><p>I didn't nap for that long though. I spent most of my resting time lying in bed as I traced the stitches on my forehead. Today was close call. That's all I could say about that. I found myself searching under my pillow until I was able to pull out a photo from it. The photo was all too familiar. This was the last piece of evidence I had of having a real mother. It was taken a few days before the car crash.<p>

My mom had taken a day off of work to spend time with me. We spent the day watching movies and playing soccer. I wasn't sure who took the picture, but my mom had her arms wrapped around me and perched her head on my shoulder. Her smile was soft and gentle as mine was the result of a laugh. She was beautiful to say the least. She had long golden blond hair, blue eyes and olive-toned skin. It was hard to believe that I was her daughter. We had the same full lip structure but other than that we hardly looked alike. I didn't know who father was nor did my mom talk about him so I couldn't automatically assume I got my other features from his side of the family.

I didn't even know if there were any raven heads in my mom's side of the family. She didn't talk about them much either now that I thought about it. I knew my grandfather came from Mexico and my grandmother grew up in America but was full blooded Italian. And there's the fact that the Petrellis knew my family before I did. That's about it. I never really asked about it either. I just got used to it being just me and my mom that I felt that's all that mattered.

The door slowly creaked open and I looked over to Claire trying to sneak in.

She smiled guiltily at me. "Sorry, I just needed to grab something."

I sat up. "It's okay. I couldn't sleep anyway."

"What's that?" she asked curiously.

I patted the spot next to my bed and she sat next to me. I gave her the picture.

She smiled. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," I said.

"You were cute."

"Thanks."

"Who's the woman in the picture?"

"She was my mom," I said in a low voice.

"Was?"

"She died in a car crash when I was twelve and I've been here ever since."

She looked at me wide eyed as if she did something wrong. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for you to bring that up. I thought you were—"

"Separated from my mom," I finished. "No. It's okay, you didn't know."

"But still…So what was her name?"

"Linda Santiago. I used to be Danielle Valarie Santiago. Don't ask where the English first name came from because I don't know."

Claire handed the photo back to me. "I went looking for my birth mom before my house blew up. I thought if I met her, I would know who I was. Her name was Meredith Gordon and only a couple days after I met her, she left. She even agreed to take money from Nathan to keep quiet about me."

I could sense disappointment in her voice. She expected more than what her birth parents could give her and now she was starting to feel the anger.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"But what about you? Do you know who your father is or where he is?"

"No to all three."

"But aren't you at least curious?" Claire questioned.

I shook my head. "I'm not in a rush to know who my dad is because I've lived my life so long without one that I can't imagine my life with one."

"I understand. Speaking of dads, Nathan told me I should go to Paris with Angela."

My heart nearly dropped on the floor. "What?"

"He thought it would be better for right now and I agree with him."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this."

"I know you don't really get along with Nathan, but I want you to come with me."

"_¿Qué?"_

"Please, Danni. You'll be the only one who understands," she begged. "And I don't want to be stuck with Angela alone."

"I don't think anyone on this earth that wants to be, but this is too sudden. Especially with the bomb happening soon—I don't know if I can."

"Well, it doesn't matter what you decide. You're going whether you like it or not."

Angela walked into our room as if she had heard our whole conversation right outside of the door.

"Excuse me?" I said taken aback.

"You're coming," Angela clarified. "It's too dangerous for either of you to be here at the moment."

"What about Cole?"

"He can survive without you."

"But I can't just pick up and leave," I protested. "I know there's something I can do here to stop the bomb."

She only stared at me as if I didn't say anything at all. "We start packing in the morning."

Angela left before I could argue once more. I groaned falling down into my bed. "I swear I am living with a walking brick wall."

I ended up not getting that much sleep the following night. If it wasn't the pain from my forehead, it was the anger I felt towards Angela for forcing me on this trip. I knew it wasn't because she wanted to shop in Paris. She was trying to pull me away before the bomb went off. I still couldn't believe it was happening. I didn't even know how was going to survive in France. I didn't speak a word of French.

Then as if she couldn't get me any more frustrated, Angela woke me up at six AM to start packing. I wasn't going to school that day. I should have been able to sleep in sorrows. Anyway, I did as I was told and began packing with Claire.

Claire did her best to cheer me up by saying that this was for the best but I hardly believed a word of it. I received the same speech when foster care told me the Petrelli family was going to adopt me and look where I am now. I appreciated Claire's support in this though. She was a victim of the situation as well. I tried many times to see Cole, but Angela would always be there to stop me. I guess she really wanted me to leave things on a sour note.

By the time I was close to finishing my packing, the door opened. I looked up to see Cole.

"You're leaving for Paris?!" Cole shouted at me.

"Say that a little louder, I don't think the French heard you," I quipped.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried, but I every time I stepped out of this room Angela would pull me back in here to finish packing."

"But you can't leave, Danni. Not right now."

"I know," I sighed. "Once again, I tried telling Angela that but she wouldn't listen to me."

"Do or do not. There is no try."

"OK, so I _didn't_ convince Angela to leave me here in New York and want to know the better news, Nathan told Claire to go to Paris."

Cole groaned. "How many more things can go wrong today?"

"It's okay," Claire reassured us. "Nathan just wants what's best for me."

"No, he wants what's best for his campaign," I said. "You being gone makes his life a whole lot easier."

"Now, you're being dragged down with everyone else," Cole grumbled.

"What do you want me to do? Because of the whole Sylar incident, Peter doesn't want me to go anywhere alone."

"Peter doesn't want you leave for Paris either—either of you. Besides since when do you listen to Angela, Danni?"

"I don't want to," I said. "But if I don't go, she's going to force me anyway."

"That's not fair and you know it."

A knock came from the doorway. Nathan smiled at us. "So how's the packing coming, ladies?"

"We're just finishing up," Claire answered.

"Good. Danielle, can I speak to you for a moment?"

I nodded as I made way to another conversation with Nathan, the most stubborn man on the planet. I had a few things to say to him anyway. Nathan closed the door and walked a certain distance away before speaking.

"Look, I know you're upset about the arrangement—"

"Upset is an understatement," I snapped.

"But it's for the best right now," he continued. "With the election coming up and the bomb, it's better to just get away for a little while."

"Please don't say you told the same thing to Claire."

"It's not the right time," he muttered.

"You pushed away your only daughter and that's all you have to say for yourself?" I exasperated. "Oh well, I guess that's the answer to everything these days! Like if you have a math test you didn't study for you can tell your teacher, 'Hey, I can't take this because it isn't the right time.' I've got news for you, Nate: there is no right time. There's a now or never, but never a right time."

"The election is tomorrow. The last thing I need is reporters getting on my back about Claire."

"She's your daughter just as much as Monty and Simon are your sons."

"The bomb is going to happen soon. I don't want her here while that's happening."

"She can't die. All I am hearing out of you are excuses of why you can't."

Nathan's face of content suddenly transformed into one of frustration. I didn't care if I "upset" him. He needed to know the truth whether he liked it or not.

"You're going to Paris and that's final," he growled. "Heidi's coming over today so make sure Claire is out of sight."

Nathan stormed off before I could say anything else. Claire didn't deserve this. She was just a girl trying to understand biological father. Another reason why I wasn't in a rush to learn who my father was: I didn't want to get my hopes up too high.

I returned back to my room trying my best to restrain myself from screaming to the world. Claire and Cole stared at me in silence as I put my last pair of socks in my suitcase and zipped it up.

"So, you're still going?" Cole asked expectantly.

I nodded to avoid accidently snapping at him.

"You got in a fight with Nathan again, didn't you?"

I nodded again.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Scream, yes. Talking, I don't think it's going to make a difference," I said coolly.

"You don't have to listen to Nathan either. He's an ass." Cole looked to Claire apologetically. "No offense to you whatsoever."

"Yeah, I think I better go step out for a little bit," Claire said, obviously feeling out of place.

Once Claire closed the door behind her, I spoke again. "Nathan is a number of things that I can't say without having an R-rating."

"What's going to happen when you're gone?"

"You know what's going to happen, Cole."

"Yeah, but you're supposed to help us. There's a reason for everything you know."

"What am I supposed do?" I said lowering my voice. "So far all I've done to contribute this cause is help save Claire and almost get my head sliced off. Maybe it is best if I go."

"What are you talking about? Danni, Peter is the bomb. Do you really want him to go through this alone?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but Angela interrupted me. "Danielle, the boys want to see you before you go off to Paris tonight."

Angela smiled pleasantly at me as she walked in with Claire following behind her. Did Claire see Heidi? Did she see Simon and Monty? I didn't have to ask. It was written all over her face.

I took Cole's hand and led him to the door. "OK."

"We're not done talking about this," he hissed in my ear.

As we made our way down the spiral staircase, I saw Peter walking up the stairs.

"Hey, Peter," I greeted.

"Hey, Danni." He turned to Cole. "Any luck?"

"She's as stubborn as a tree," Cole answered.

My eyes widened. "Wait a second. Are you two working together again?"

"Well we do have two girls that shouldn't be going to Paris," said Peter. "Cuts my work in half."

"You really need to warn me every time that you two decide to form an alliance against me."

"Aunt Danni!" I heard Monty rejoice.

Monty didn't waste any time in running up the stairs and hugging my legs. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, kid," I said.

"Can you come play Uno with me? Before you go away?"

Again, Monty gave me those cute puppy dog eyes. I couldn't say no. "Sure. Do you mind if Cole plays?"

"No. C'mon guys, let's go."

Monty pulled Cole and I down the steps as Peter was holding back a laugh. There was no escaping this place with Nathan's sons here to guilt trip you. We ended up playing Uno, Twister, Candy Land and any type of board game until Angela pulled me over to go to bed since we were going to have an early start in the morning. I wasn't happy about the situation at all, but what could I do? As much as I hated to say it, Angela was my legal guardian. Until I turned eighteen I was under her influence.

* * *

><p>The next morning, pulled myself out of bed preparing myself for the next few hours. I thought about saying goodbye to Cole, but he would only try to persuade me to stay. I would miss him, though and hopefully he wouldn't hate me forever for leaving. Along with Claire, I dragged my suitcase down the stairs only to run into Peter and Cole at the bottom. So much for avoiding goodbyes.<p>

"You weren't even going to say goodbye?" Peter questioned.

"Goodbye," Claire said without any emotion.

"Danni, you can't be leaving," said Cole.

"I'm not having this conversation with you again. I have no use in being here so why should I stay?" I inquired.

"For me—for the world."

"Claire, I think I figured out a way for you to save the world." Peter held out a hand gun to her.

"You're giving her a gun?" I asked.

I myself had never handled a gun, but I didn't need to know that much that they weren't people friendly. Why was Peter giving her a weapon before we walk on an international flight?

Claire found the idea just as ridiculous as I did. "A gun? That's how I save the world, that's your plan?"

"I can handle Ted," Peter said. Oh, I guess Claire told him about Ted and his ability. Less work for me. "But if I lose it, you're the only one who can get close enough to stop me. Right through the back of the head. You know the spot. The same place you pulled the piece of glass from."

Oh God, it's official. Peter's completely lost it. How can he ask Claire something like that?

"My destiny is not to shoot you," Claire stated as she tried to walk past him. "The universe cannot be that lame."

I followed behind her. "Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with the cheerleader on this one."

"You cannot run away from who you are," Peter told us. "This bomb is happening."

"How can you be so sure?" Claire asked.

"Because I can draw the future." Peter handed his sketchbook to us. I looked inside to see illustrations of the city on fire and Nathan's campaign flyers floating around it. "I met a guy who could do it, now I can do it, you see? Someone's gonna blow up. Me, Ted. It doesn't really matter. It's happening around the election, unless you stop it."

Claire stopped flipping the pages and stared at a drawing of a man with long wavy hair. "That's Ted. You drew Ted."

"Ted? As in Ted Sprague?" I asked.

I was looking for this man for a month now and Claire only found him by looking at Peter's drawings. The universe hates me.

"Are you sure?" Peter looked down at the drawing.

"I can never forget that face."

"That's Kirby Plaza, Midtown. Ted is here in New York. Don't you see, Claire? You're a part of this. But you have to do this." Peter held the gun out to her once again.

This time Claire took the gun and stored it in her bag. She was staying.

Peter's eyes flashed to me. "Are you going to stay?"

I sighed. "I would, but what can I do to stop this bomb?"

"You can fly, run fast, control air itself. Use your imagination. If we need more information somewhere, you can get there faster than the rest of us can."

"I still don't know."

"Danni, this is your chance to be someone. You can either be known as the girl who sat there and did nothing or the girl who stood up and made a difference. You can save millions of lives."

"Think about your mom, Danni," Cole said. "What if you had these abilities the day she died? If you could, would you go back to save her?"

There was no hesitation in that answer. "Yes."

"Then why are you pausing to save millions of lives? The question is simple and the answer is simple: are you going to stay in New York or go to Paris?"

Cole and Peter were right. No matter how small my part was in this, it was still important. We were so close. I couldn't give up now.

"I'm staying," I finally said.

Cole pulled me into an embrace. "That's my girl."

"Hey, while I was gone did you two happen to K-I-S-S?" Peter teased.

We pulled away from each other at that. I shook my head. "No."

"Sorry, it's just that I caught you guys holding hands and now that you hugged each other, I just had to assume."

My felt my face burn up. "Look, this stuff is pretty unpredictable so I think we'd better head over to Kirby Plaza before Angela realizes that we're gone."

"What about Nathan?" Cole whispered to them. "Isn't he a part of this too?"

Claire shifted uncomfortably. Something happened.

"He can't be trusted right now," was all Peter said about that.

I raised an eyebrow. "Again?"

"You're right, Danni. We should get going now if we're going to catch Ted on time."

I grabbed what I needed and left with the others. Peter drove us to our destination within the hour. We tried our best to keep the topic of our conversations separate of the bomb. None of us were particularly comfortable with the subject since every minute that passed the bomb inched closer.

Once we were in Kirby Plaza, each of us split up around the plaza to look for Ted Sprague. It was weird. I spent a month searching where this guy would be and now I would come face-to-face with him in matter of moments. My biggest fear was Peter's encounter with the man though. Peter had no control over what ability he absorbed and Claire would most likely have to pull the trigger sooner than later. I hoped that wasn't the case. Too many things have happened for me to lose my brother again.

After searching around my section of the plaza, I went back to Claire and Peter to deliver the news.

"I can't find him anywhere," I informed them. "I don't know if it's because we missed or he's not here yet."

Cole came up behind me. "Same here, man. He's not anywhere."

"Don't worry, we'll find him," Peter reassured.

I looked down at Claire who had watery eyes. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just miss my family," said Claire.

"You won't have to miss them for that long. Once this whole thing is over with, we'll all be able to go home."

Claire nodded and looked the other direction. Her sadden expression suddenly turned into a face of relief as she ran.

"Dad," she breathed out.

I looked over to see three men walking towards us. I recognized all three: Matt Parkman, the man that interrogated me at the police station, Mr. Bennet, Claire's father, and Ted Sprague, the nuclear man in Peter's drawing. _This is the weirdest combination of people I've seen. _Claire ran straight into Mr. Bennet's arms and her father pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Can you see the future too?" Cole hissed to me.

"No. Irony still exists, you know," I said.

"I love you, Claire Bear," I heard Mr. Bennet say to his daughter.

At least they were happy. I looked towards Parkman who seemed just as surprised to see me. Then I began to hear buzzing. I looked over to Peter who was exchanging glances with Ted. My eyes flashed down to his hands to see that they were glowing with energy.

"Claire!" Peter shouted.

Claire separated from her father and became worried at the sight of Peter.

"What's he doing?" Ted questioned.

Mr. Bennet shared the same expression of despair. "He's absorbing your ability."

"He's gotta make it stop," Parkman said.

Peter struggled to control the energy in his hands as they continued to glow. I underestimated my fears. Looks like the bomb was going to happen sooner than later.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! Sorry about the delay. I start classes in a couple days so we'll see how long each update happens now. And I think you should know that there are only two chapters left this season and one chapter left until the season finale!<p>

~Emyrox567


	22. One More Step

One More Step

But I've been wrong before. Just as we all thought Peter was going to lose control, Peter looked to Claire.

"Claire, you know what you have to do," Peter said.

Claire began to pull the gun out her purse. I gripped onto Cole's hand, praying that it would stop.

"Do it."

I squeezed his hand tighter as Claire raised the gun. This was it. Then…nothing happened. My prayers were answered.

Peter held up his hand. "Wait!" He balled his hands into fists and gave a heavy sigh. "I'm okay."

Once again, Peter fought for control except this time he won. The red glow from his hands faded into the natural state they were before.

I let go of Cole's hand. "Sorry for squeezing."

"It's cool," he smiled slightly.

I went over to Peter and punched him in the shoulder. "Don't ever do that again! You almost gave me a heart attack."

"I'm sorry. I panicked," Peter replied. "Besides I would think you were smarter than to hit a walking nuclear bomb."

The last statement was a joke, but we were in a serious situation. There was no time for our brother-sister banter right now. I opened my mouth to say something, but Parkman interrupted me.

"Hey, uh, we kinda need to talk about this," he said to us.

I mutely agreed with everyone else as we gathered together to talk about New York's impending future. With the exception of Claire and Mr. Bennet, Peter began to tell everyone of the dream, the paintings, the bomb—everything. As I listened carefully to each word Peter said, I thought of Cole and how much he's been involved in this whole thing. Besides Mr. Bennet, Cole was the only normal person in the group. I knew I needed to talk to him before things were to get out of hand.

"Cole, can I talk to you?" I whispered to him.

He nodded and led us a distance away from the group.

"What's up?" he asked.

I paused for a moment trying to translate my thoughts into words. What did I want to say to him? Then just like that, the words rolled out of my mouth: "I think you should go home."

"What?" he said dumbstruck.

"I know this is sudden but I want to at least give you the option of running before things get out of hand."

"Are you seriously turning our conversation earlier today onto me?"

I stood there silently. I didn't realize I was, but now that I thought about it this was a similar scenario.

"I'm not running, Danni," Cole stated. "I'm not going to leave you here now."

"I didn't say you had to. I just said you should. Besides you're not cursed like me. Even when all of this ends, you'll still be you while I'll never be the same person again."

"You're not cursed. I would say you're blessed. Confession time: I wish I was in your shoes right now."

Now it was my turn to be dumbstruck. "What?"

"You're in a position where you can help millions of lives. You can fly and more. You even have your own comic book. How many teenagers get to do that? The biggest accomplishment I've ever gotten was a lead in the school musical."

"This is supposed to be an accomplishment?"

"You're using your abilities to help people. I've only seen that in movies, read it in books and flipped through it in comic books. Now you get to live it. From the day that I've met you, you've always been special—to me."

I gave a small smile. "So I take that as you're staying?"

"You can count on it." Cole took my hand. "C'mon, let's go see what they're arguing about."

I followed Cole back to Peter, Parkman, and Ted. I was partly relieved that Cole was going to stay. I think the one person that I needed right now was him. I knew he would be able to handle whatever is coming next. I could tell Peter was finished telling his story because of the same incredulous expressions on that Parkman and Ted shared—the same one I gave to Peter when he told me that I could fly.

"I just rode twenty-six hours from Texas to take down the evil bastards who want me dead, and you're saying I should turn around and go back because of a painting you saw?" Ted quipped at Peter.

"Yeah. That and a dream," Peter shot back.

From first glance the whole idea seemed insane but once you see how accurate the paintings are and have at least two encounters with a serial killer who slices people's heads off without laying a finger on them then you start to believe anything is possible.

"Don't forget the time-traveler," I added.

I caught Parkman concentrating on Peter the way he concentrated on me when I was being interrogated. I was under suspicion that he was special too, but I couldn't be sure.

"He might be nuts, Ted, but he's not lying," Parkman said. "He believes every word of it. So does Danni and her…sidekick."

"Hey, this sidekick has a name!" Cole argued.

I stopped Cole before he could reveal his name. I wanted to test if what I thought was true. "What's his name then?"

Parkman paused. "Cole Bowman."

"So you can read minds," I mused. "That's a new one."

"Ted," Peter said, "They'll take out the tracking system, then you're gonna be free."

I was going to ask about the tracking system, but I had a feeling I would find out anyway.

Ted gave out a harsh laugh at the idea. "Free? I killed people with my powers, okay? I didn't mean to, but it happened. And now the FBI thinks I'm a terrorist."

"Yeah, but you're not a terrorist. You need to get out here before you become one."

"There's a town in Nebraska." Mr. Bennet walked onto the scene with Claire. "Windy Fork. Population: fifteen," he continued. "I want you to go there and wait for me to contact you."

"He gave me directions," Claire added.

"You're sending your daughter with them?" Parkman asked incredulously.

"Claire tells me she has a destiny," Mr. Bennet responded. "She stopped Ted from melting down once before and saved all of our lives. She could do it again. She could stop both of you."

"So that's the plan?" I asked. "Change of venue?"

"Well, its fifteen lives versus millions. Which one would you choose, Danni?"

I swallowed hard at the question. Either way people were going to die. I guess at this point all that mattered was the less people that died the better.

I nodded. "I get it."

Peter looked over to Ted. "You coming?"

"I'm in," Ted agreed.

"So what exactly is our plan of action right now?" Cole questioned.

"Ted, Peter and Claire are going to drive to Nebraska while Matt and I are going to shut down the tracking system," Mr. Bennet explained to us.

I crossed my arms. "Where exactly does that leave Cole and me?"

"You can go with Peter to make sure they get out of New York safely. After that, try to get out of the city as fast as you can."

"Where exactly am I supposed to go? I don't have any other family I can stay with."

"Jack has a friend in Massachusetts," Cole offered. "If I call him, maybe we can fly over there."

"In a plane, right?"

"Fine…if you want to be boring."

"Great. Now that everything is settled, I'm assuming this is where we part ways," Parkman said looking expectantly at us.

Each of us nodded in agreement. Peter, Ted, Cole and I waited as Claire said her goodbyes to her father. It was hard to believe that the explosion was so close. Had it only been two months before that I learned this would happen? It was as if it was yesterday that I jumped over a car. Everything was happening so fast. Even with the paintings and the dream, none of us had a clue as to what would happen next.

"Hey," I heard a voice beside me.

I looked over to see that it was Ted. "Hey?"

"So how are you taking this whole thing?"

"I'm handling it. Peter's my brother so I'm naturally worried. What about you?"

"Same here and I thought being a walking nuclear bomb as enough."

"I know, right? There always seems to be an open end to everything."

"Matt told me about you," Ted said. "He mentioned that you were abducted too, so I'm assuming you're special too."

"Yeah. I can manipulate air," I said meekly. I still wasn't comfortable talking about my ability, but since Ted was different like me it wasn't so bad.

"Wow. Power absorption, regeneration and air manipulation. All in one family. Must be interesting to live with."

For some odd reason, what he said caused me to let out a small laugh. The statement could be taken in many various ways. "You have no idea."

Claire returned to the group and exchanged glances with us. "Let's go."

We began walking through the city to the nearest car rental place we could find. Strangely, the city was bustling with people more than usual. The cars barely moved on the streets and we barely kept track of each other through the crowd of people. I looked up at a building and found a picture of Nathan. Today was the election. I couldn't believe that slipped my mind. Not that I cared, but every time Nathan and I argued his forthcoming election would find its way in there.

The car rental place finally came in view. Since the cars were caught in rush hour, we cut through the street to our destination.

"You know, I've been thinking," Claire said to us. "After we save the world, I may go on patrol. You know, jumping in front of bullets and dragging people out of burning buildings."

"And I'll save cats from trees and idiots from buildings," I smirked towards Peter.

He smiled remembering the first conversation we had about the cheerleader. "You're not gonna catch me wearing a cape, zipping around with my underwear outside my pants. You know, like the losers Cole reads about."

"Hey! They are trying to keep their secret identity," Cole defended his beloved comic books. "Their alter egos obviously don't wear capes."

"Yeah, they put on glasses and call themselves Clark Kent," I mocked.

"Seriously. Is it Insult Cole Day, today?"

"It's only because we love you."

"Why do we have to rent a car?" Claire asked. "Can't we just fly to Nebraska?"

Peter and I smirked at her.

"In a plane?" she clarified.

"The FBI's got my face all over wanted posters," Ted informed. "I wouldn't get very far in an airport."

I felt a pang of empathy for Ted. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but I guess the one moment he couldn't control his power, he became America's Most Wanted. Peter suddenly stopped and looked around.

"What is it?" Claire asked, confused.

"It's Sylar," he replied. "He's here. He's watching us."

I froze. A day barely past since I had seen that man. Was he coming after me again?

Claire's eyes filled with panic as mine were. "Right now?"

"He knows what Ted can do. We need to get off of the streets."

Cole gripped my arm and pulled me towards the car rental store. I had a feeling Sylar wouldn't be happy to see me.

"Who's Sylar?" Ted questioned as he followed us inside.

We found security behind the store's walls. Sylar wouldn't try anything with the security cameras around here. He may be coming farther out of the shadows every moment, but I don't think he wanted his antics documented.

Cole and I waited with Ted in the waiting area as Claire and Peter went to go rent a car.

"So do you want to tell me who this Sylar guy is?" Ted whispered to me.

"Not right now," I said. "This place is too quiet and too public."

"So what's the story between you and Cole?"

"What?"

"I mean he knows you're different, right?"

"Yeah."

Ted looked over to Cole. "And you've accepted that?"

"I accepted it before she did," Cole answered. "As you can tell I am quite the comic book fan."

"It gets irritable at times, but you learn to love it," I said.

"I'd say you're lucky to have him then. The worse could have happened and trust me, I've been there."

"Thank you, but I think it's more admirable to be a fighter. That's what I see in you. The government's turned against you yet you still fight for your innocence."

"Thank you," he said barely audible.

Peter and Claire returned with the keys to the newly rented car. Once we were on our way out Ted asked the Sylar question once again. Peter explained the man's horrid motives as I followed them.

"So this guy Sylar, he kills people like us?" Ted inquired as we walked out of the door.

"Yeah," replied Peter. "To take what we can do."

"How does he manage that?"

"He rips your head open," Claire snarled.

The memory of Jackie entered into my head the way she said that. She was obviously holding a grudge against Sylar for killing her teammate.

"Then I say we stick with the plan and get out of this city," Ted stated.

All of the sudden the usual sirens around the city became intense. I looked around to see FBI trucks swerving around us. As soon as they stopped, FBI agents began to pile out of the trucks. They were coming for Ted.

"Get out of here. Go!" Ted demanded us.

"Federal agents on your knees, now!" a woman's voice screamed.

Cole wrapped an arm around me as he pulled me away from the scene. A part of me wanted to go with him while another part of me wanted to stay and help Ted. He was just like me. Trying to find his place in the world even though the world turned its back on him. Soon I felt another hand grab me and I gasped as a reaction.

"Relax, it's me," Peter's voice hissed at me.

I glanced over hoping to see him there, but it was only air. "Peter?"

"Claire and I are invisible. Make sure Cole is touching you and hold my hand."

I followed Peter's order and as an extra precaution, I grabbed Cole's hand with my free hand. Peter led us to the garage where the rented car would be. Nobody was inside so Peter let go of my hand and reappeared along with Claire.

"That's got to be the coolest thing I've ever done," Cole smiled.

I punched him in the arm. "Did you not see what happened? Ted is gone and there's no way of getting him back."

"They'll put him in a stone cell, Danni," Peter reassured me. "He won't be able to hurt anyone in there. What we need to worry about is who reported him."

"Sylar," I said. "It had to be if knew about Ted's power."

"And he has super hearing," Cole added.

"How do you know that?"

"Unlike you, I actually study."

"That's what the comic book said?"

He nodded. "I read the part where he could hear your conversation with Mohinder. So it's safe to assume he heard Ted talking about being a terrorist."

"Now that we have that out of the way," I faced Peter. "You need to get out of here as soon as you can."

"I'm not leaving you alone here," Peter protested.

"Pete, this is seriously the wrong time to argue about that."

"Sylar can't be too far behind, Danni. The minute I leave for Nebraska is the second he takes to rip your head open. I'm not taking that chance."

"Peter—"

"No, you're coming with me whether you like it or not."

I could the fear in his voice. I hadn't realized my incident on Sylar would make this big of an impact on him. Although, I did have a history of underestimating how much people cared about me.

"Fine," I sighed. "I'll go to Nebraska with you."

"Thank you. Cole, you're coming too. Sylar might be angry about the bruise you gave him."

Cole agreed in contrast to me. We quickly found the car and drove off into the city avoiding the FBI agents looking for us.

The drive was mostly quiet as Peter tried to maneuver around the rush hour traffic. This morning I thought was going to Paris and now I was going to Nebraska. This was definitely a lesson that nothing ever went to plan. I tried to think of what would happen once we arrived in Nebraska, but it came up as a blank. Would the bomb really just stop once we were in another place? I didn't think so. The painter and the time-traveler both prophesized that the bomb would explode in New York, so it was a matter of how hard destiny was willing to fight to get its way.

"Are you okay?" Cole asked from beside me.

"I'm not sure. With all of the surprises today, I can't imagine what's going to happen next."

"Everything's going to be okay. I promise."

I nodded. "I wonder how Nathan's doing in the election."

I didn't really care how he was doing. His desire to win almost made me go insane, but it was better to talk about something that didn't involve an exploding man.

"I don't know," Peter answered. "The results haven't come in yet."

"Would have voted for him?"

"Who? Nathan?"

"Yeah, I know you've been running around with us all day so you didn't get a chance to vote. But would you?"

"I would," he said after a moment of silence. "He may be an ass, but he always comes around in the end."

The car went silent again. Peter knew Nathan longer so he obviously had more faith in Nathan than I ever would. I struggled trying to find a justification to Peter's reasoning. Nathan lied, cheated and stole. He lied about what I could do. He cheated on his wife. He stole the book Peter had given me to understand what I was. Everything that he ever did was for himself.

I would vote for the other guy.

We drove a certain distance away until we got caught up in rush hour traffic again. We sat patiently inside the car for a few minutes until each of us started to get anxious. Rush hour traffic was the last thing we needed while we were trying to save this city.

"Hey, move the car!" Peter shouted out of the window. "Come on, get moving!"

"Is this the only way out of the city?" Claire questioned.

"No, but it's the fastest."

"Pete, this is New York City, one of the most populated cities in the country. There is no fast street," I said.

"Not if you do what my mom does," Cole muttered.

"What does she do?"

"You really don't want to know."

Peter and Claire stepped out of the car without saying a word.

I shrugged. "Might as well see what the commotion is."

Cole and I followed after Peter and Claire. Apparently there was a crime scene investigation underway. I saw the caution tape blocking access to the curious pedestrians as well as the policemen guarding the area. Beyond that I could see a flipped over truck. As we headed towards the fence where we could see, I saw the printed word: FBI written on the side. _Oh God, _I thought.

I began sprinting towards the fence and froze. Inside the FBI truck was Ted—hanging upside down and missing the top of his head. I had never seen a finished product of Sylar's murders, so I was almost horrified at the sight. That could have been me. What was worse? Ted died never to have the chance of redeeming himself.

"Sylar got him," Peter breathed. "He killed Ted."

"Does that mean Sylar can do what Ted can do?" Claire asked.

Then I discovered the new problem. Sylar was the second option to be the bomb. Only this time, he would be more willing to blow up New York.

"He's the one," Peter said, repeating my thoughts. "He's gonna wipe out the entire city."

"You've gotta stop him," Claire told Peter.

"I don't think I can. The last time I fought Sylar, he killed me." Peter patted my back. "Come on."

I followed him back to the car without another word, but by the time we got there I stopped. Wouldn't Isaac have seen this coming? He knew Peter was the bomb; he had to know Sylar was going to steal Ted's power. We were missing something. I had to find out what was before we went any further with this.

Cole paused to look at me. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"We need to go back," I said.

"Are you crazy? Ted's gone now. There's nothing we can do."

"No, not there. Back to Manhattan. We need to see Isaac."

"Hey, are you guys coming?" Peter shouted after us.

I jogged up to Peter. "I think we need to split up right now."

"Why?"

"I need to see Isaac again. He might have painted something new that will help us."

"Are you sure?"

"If he could send comic books of me just before Sylar planned to come to my school, then he would have thought of something for tonight."

"Tonight?" Peter raised an eyebrow. "You think it's going to happen tonight?"

"I don't know, but there's only one way of finding out."

"I'll go with her, Peter," Cole offered. "We'll give you a call if we run across anything."

Peter nodded. "Fine. But don't hesitate on that call, even if it's to tell me that you're all right."

"No problem." I embraced him. "Good luck, Peter."

"You too. I love you."

"I love you too." I stepped away from him, wiping the tears from my eyes. "Don't blow up while I'm gone okay?"

"Okay."

I looked towards Claire. "Good luck, Claire. Do your aunt proud."

Claire smiled. "I'll try."

"I guess I'll see you, Peter," Cole said. "And it was nice meeting you, Claire."

We turned away from them after saying our goodbyes. Hopefully it wouldn't be our last. I walked with Cole until we found a spot where no one was wondering.

I held out my arm to him. "Ready?"

"Running or flying?"

"Running. It's too dark to tell where the loft is at."

Cole wrapped an arm around my waist. "OK, to the loft then."

"To the loft."

With that I took off running into the city. Unfortunately I didn't know that I was making the biggest mistake that I could ever make that night.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! The next chapter is the season finale! I wanted to take this time to thank those who take their time to read my silly little story whether or not you review. Seeing the view count makes my day :). Also, if you could vote on the poll on my profile that would be great. I'm curious how many of you would be interested in a Danni role-playing Twitter account or even a Facebook page.<p>

~Emyrox567


	23. How to Stop an Exploding Man

How to Stop an Exploding Man

Cole and I arrived outside of Isaac's loft within a short amount of time. I stopped with a jolt releasing the air I was using to run fast. I stumbled slightly while making my almost complete stop.

"Well that turned out better than I thought it would," I muttered.

Cole coughed. "My throat feels so dry."

"I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll just remember to keep my mouth closed. I think I like flying better."

I shrugged. "Either way it gets the job done, but flying I'll admit is faster. We should probably go inside if we want to get any answers."

I went to walk towards Isaac's loft, but stopped when my phone buzzed. For a moment I thought it was Peter asking for an update, but it wasn't. It was a text from Ava. "CONGRATS!": it read.

I texted back: "Congrats on what?"

Ava replied seconds later: "Nathan won! Won by a landslide!"

So Nathan did win. Through all of his troubles, he finally got what he wanted. Good. Now he could stop bothering me.

"Right, sorry. Thanks. I'll talk to you 2morrow," I replied back.

I loved hearing from Ava and everything, but now was a bad time for small chat. I followed Cole to Isaac's front door.

"What was that?" Cole asked.

"Ava texted me," I explained. "Nathan won the election—by a landslide apparently."

"That's good for him, I guess."

"At least he'll stop whining about it now." I knocked on the door.

When no one answered, I knocked again. Still no answer. "You've got to me kidding me."

"Relax, maybe he's just taking a nap or out shopping," Cole reassured.

"Shopping?"

"For food. Artists have to eat too, you know." Cole banged on the door. "Isaac, come on, answer! It's us! Don't you remember Cole Bowman and Danni Petrelli?"

"Maybe he did go shopping."

"No, something's not right. We're not going to find out if don't get in there."

I quirked an eyebrow. "Am I hearing this correctly? You're actually suggesting we break into his loft."

"Well, we're not going to steal anything."

"Dylan is a bad influence on you….and partly me."

Cole ignored my comment and shook the door handle. Surprisingly it wasn't even locked. I guess Isaac never worried about getting robbed in the lower part of Manhattan. Cole was the first to step inside, his eyes carefully scanning the place.

"He's not here," he stated.

I went inside to see myself. There were paint stains, a lone mattress and various paintings, but no Isaac. Oh well, I wasn't going to wait around forever for him. I began to go down into the loft.

"You know maybe we should wait for Isaac," Cole called after me. "In case he comes in at the wrong time."

"We're just here to look at the paintings, Cole. Besides Isaac knows us. He won't freak out that much," I told him.

Cole reluctantly followed me into the main loft. My eyes wandered around the room, glancing at each painting that was displayed. There were new ones for sure, but none of them had relevant information that we needed. My eyes suddenly stopped on one. It was piled against the wall with many others. I went up closer to take a look at it. The painting was of…me—except different. I appeared a little more muscular, had more defined features and held a gun up to my face as I leaned against a wall. I noticed a tattoo on my shoulder. It seemed like it was one of helix. Was this my future?

"Wow," Cole said from behind me. "You look badass."

"I look different," I mused. "I seem angry—well more than usual."

"Bright side: you get a gun in the future."

"I think this is if the bomb explodes. I mean I'm getting a whole Sarah Connor vibe off of this."

"Well, in that case, we should probably keep looking."

I gave the painting one more glance. "Yeah, we should."

I walked around the room once again, still unable to find anything useful. It was then I noticed something was off. Cole was right. Something didn't feel right—or smell right. It was like Isaac left a turkey dinner out for weeks.

"Danni, I found something," Cole shouted.

I looked over to the painted Cole pointed to. It was of Sylar and Peter facing each other in Kirby Plaza.

"Great," I said. "We found where it'll happen. I'll text it to Peter." I took out my phone and texted to information to Peter.

"Something really isn't right," Cole said warily.

"Like what?"

"The painting. It's not Isaac's."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"It's not in his style." Cole took out the _Air Maiden_ comic book. "See?"

I compared the two pieces of art. The one of Peter and Sylar seemed a little bit wilder than the one in the comic book. Every artist has their own style. Even dancers have that trait. That means some other artist painted this. And just any artist. One that could paint the future.

I tensed. "What's that smell?"

I sprinted to the horrid smell to find something equally as horrifying. Isaac Mendez was in his loft, that was true. But his life was not. His body lied on the floor in the middle of a puddle of his own blood with the top of his head gone revealing the brain underneath. I stepped back until Cole caught me in his arms. Isaac was gone. Sylar got him. Just like he got Ted. Isaac didn't deserve to die this way. Without him, none of this would have been able to happen. We wouldn't have a chance in saving the world.

"Sylar killed Isaac," I choked out. "Sylar can see the future. Sylar was here."

Then a terrifying voice purred into my ear. "I am here."

Cole and I jumped away from the voice to see Sylar smirking at us. Great, leave it to me to walk straight back into the hunter's trap. Of course I didn't waste any time in reacting. I grabbed onto Coles arm and went into a run. But before I could let my powers kick in, I felt the same strong invisible force grab me and pushed me to the ground. I struggled to move, but I couldn't even lift my arm up.

I glanced at Cole who was struggling just as much as I was.

Sylar gave out a maniacal laugh as he walked over to us. "Now this was the last thing I was expecting: a visit from the emo-girl and her little sidekick." His smile faded into a glare. "What are you doing here?"

"We came here for answers," I said. We were literally pinned to the ground with a serial killer looming over us. I think lying to him was the last thing I wanted to do. "We were going to ask Isaac if he knew anything else but…"

"Yeah, Mr. Mendez is a little preoccupied."

"I see you've made use of his powers though," I spat. "And what about Ted's? Did you blow up a bank?"

Suddenly I felt my throat closing in. I gasped for the small amount of air I was able to receive. It was like drowning. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn't reach the surface of the water to take the breath of life. I was beginning to feel dizzy from the lack of oxygen was able to breathe. I think I heard Cole call my name a couple times, but I was too concentrated on my wellbeing. Then, there was nothing. The force that was compressing my throat disappeared and I was able to breathe again.

"Oh God, Danni," Cole exasperated. "Are you okay?!"

I coughed. "As good as I'll ever be."

"You bastard," Cole sneered at Sylar.

"Don't worry, I don't plan to kill her—at least not yet." Sylar crouched down to me. "Here's the deal: you're going to answer the question I have to the best of your ability without any of your snarky comments or else your friend gets the same treatment I gave you moments ago. Understood?"

"Yes," I whispered.

"Good. Where's Peter Petrelli?"

"I don't know."

Sylar raised his hand causing Cole to take in a deep gasp. "Do you want to try that again?"

"I don't know, okay?!" I screamed. I began to shake at the thought of Cole suffocating. "Please let him go. Your fight is with me."

He let his hand fall to his side and I heard Cole coughing beside me. "You're Peter's sister. I saw you with him today. How could you not know where he is?"

"We separated. After we saw what happened to Ted, I decided to come here while he continued his way. He could be out of New York for all we know."

"Well that's unfortunate. You could have made my job easier."

"What do you want with Peter anyway?"

"What else? He and I are the only possible suspects for the cause of this pending explosion. I'm going to make sure that he's the one that destroys this city."

"That's not going to happen," I spat. "Peter has control over Ted's power and he's not willing to slip."

"You're right. Maybe you are of use to me…"

"What are you talking about? I still don't know where Peter is."

Sylar lifted my chin to meet with his hungry eyes. "I know that, but you're his sister and he'll be willing to do _anything_ for his sister."

Oh God. I was going to be bait. I wasn't worried for myself at the least. It was Peter that came into my mind when he said that. Peter would blow up New York if it meant saving my life. Not only had I been in the Boogeyman's hands once again, I was merely a puppet in his master plan.

"But your friend, on the other hand, has no use to me."

Sylar once again lifted his hand towards Cole's direction, but before he could make any movements, I screamed at him. "Stop, please! Just let him go!"

"Danni, what are you doing?" Cole hissed at me.

"And why should I?" Sylar asked curiously.

"You said it yourself. He's no use to you," I told him trying to keep my voice from trembling. "And if you do kill him, I won't help you."

"I wasn't asking for your corporation."

"You saw how fast I can fly. I'll do the exact same thing if you kill him and then I will kill you."

"No need to make death threats, little girl. If he's so important to you, then I'll just let him go. Besides there's nothing else he can do."

Then the force holding me to the ground, released me. I sat up and looked at Cole.

He shook his head. "I can't let you do this, Danni."

"You saved my life, now I'm returning the favor," I tried to reason with him.

"This isn't about favors. I'm not leaving you alone."

"You have to or else he'll kill you."

"And what if he kills you, huh? What then?"

I sighed. "I don't know. At least you'll live. There's still a bomb that's going to happen, Cole. Do what you can and after it's over…"

"Don't talk like that. You'll make it through this. We all will." Cole held my hand. "Look in the special case that we don't, I want you to know that—"

"Stop. You're going to say that to me after we're done, okay?"

"My offer to let him live is available for a limited amount of time," Sylar taunted obviously annoyed with our last goodbyes. "Speed it up."

I got to my feet along with Cole. "Please, just go."

"Fine, but I'm coming back for you. That's a promise."

"Be careful."

Cole nodded and stared at me for a long moment before sprinting out of the loft. He was safe. That was all that mattered. How I would survive my time with Sylar was another mystery in itself.

"Very inspiring," Sylar said from behind me. "True friendship."

I turned to glare at him. "You don't get to say anything about that."

"How can I not? It's too obvious the boy cares for you more than you think he does. It practically screams cliché."

"Guess what? You're not the only one who's said that. So don't think you're special."

"Special. That carries a whole different meaning to you now, does it?"

I chose not to respond to that. After what he did to Peter and tried to do to me, he didn't deserve my input.

"Fine, you don't want talk about that I'm assuming." Sylar looked at me expectantly, but I only gave him a cold stare. "So, what's your story?"

"My story?"

"Yes. Claire's the cheerleader that can't die. Matt Parkman is the police officer that can read minds. Your brother is the man destined to blow up this city. Where do you fit in all of that?"

"Nowhere. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Really? You know if wanted to done with this situation all together then I'm pretty sure you could have left by now."

"I'm sixteen and I have no other family. I'm stuck here," I quipped. "Besides I wouldn't leave my brother when he needed me."

"And here you are helping me undermine him." Sylar stalked closer to me. "So how does it feel to the screw up in this whole situation?"

"The screw up?"

"Yes, by you coming here, you've made it convenient for me to have something against your brother. Not to mention you had too much faith in Zane which almost killed you in the end. So how does it feel to think you're at the end of the game when you've only moved to square two?"

I let his words sink in for few moments. He was trying to make me feel weak and it was almost working. I have screwed up many times in my life. Like when I rejected Peter and Cole while they were just holding out hand to help me accept what I was. Then there was the time I almost punched Brooke and this morning when I almost ran away to Paris. But from messing up so many times, I learned a valuable lesson. Okay, that's a little cliché I know, but it's true. I've grown stronger the past few months and I'm proud of it.

"Empowered," I answered. "From my screw ups, I learned how to let people in when you're alone, how to jump over a speeding car, and oh, how to run from a raging psychopath."

Sylar glared at me before lifting his hand up towards me. I gasped as my throat began to close in.

"Don't think I won't be more than willing to deliver you to your brother while you're barely alive," he snarled at me. "And once your brother blows his top, your power is mine."

I found my breath again when he released me from his grip. I coughed out the air I was holding in and took in the new air that I needed. I noticed my coughs weren't as intense as Cole's were when Sylar choked him. I guess I held in more air than normal people did.

Sylar suddenly took his attention off of me and looked in the direction of the door. "It seems we have a visitor. You better hope it's not your boyfriend because I don't give second chances."

_No, I told to Cole to leave. You wouldn't just ignore me like that_, I tried to reassure myself. But then again he still came after me the last time I was in Sylar's hands. Before I could comprehend was happening, Sylar gripped my arm and pulled me forcefully to the room where Isaac's body was.

"Stay here and don't make a sound," he hissed to me.

I stood there frozen as I prayed it wasn't Cole that came through that door. I looked to Sylar but he was nowhere to be found. I heard the door creak open. _Please, don't let that idiot be Cole._ The soft footsteps were coming closer to where I was at. The owner of the footsteps soon came into view. I gave a silent sigh of relief to realize that it wasn't Cole. I still couldn't put a finger as to who it was though. He seemed vaguely familiar—even with this back turned to me. Then he spun around and I remembered.

It was Ando, the man I met before going with Peter to save Claire. He was waiting for his friend, Hiro to return. Ando's gaze went from the painting behind me to locking eyes with me.

"Danni?" He went to step towards me, but when he did, he foot slipped on Isaac's blood. His eyes went wide when he saw the body.

Out of nowhere, Sylar came up behind Ando. "Get out of here, now!"

It was too late. By the time Ando turned around with a sword on hand, Sylar flicked the sword from his hands and held him by his throat.

"Please, don't hurt him," I begged. "He probably thought Isaac was alive like me."

"Sorry, but I'm only giving one get out of jail card tonight," he smirked. "Besides, he and his friend have been in here before. He knows the risks."

Sylar continued to walk with Ando barely breathing until he stepped on something. With his powers, he levitated Ando up against the glass to look down and see what it was. It was a black and white comic book from where I could see it—probably one of Isaac's.

"Looks like you dropped something," Sylar mused as Ando began to choke. "Comic book that predicts the future. What will they think of next?"

I went up next to Ando to try to provide some reassurance. I knew there was nothing I could do to save him, but I had to try.

"You're kidding?"

I glanced back at Sylar who held up a page of the comic book. It was picture depicting a man in glasses stabbing Sylar through the stomach. I looked at it closely to find that it was Hiro. Granted, I had only seen him in a picture, but I would recognize a short man in glasses like that anywhere.

"This is how Isaac thought I'd die, stabbed by a silly little man!" Sylar shouted incredulously.

I shrugged. "Well, it's the best news I've heard all night."

"Hiro is not silly," Ando argued through slow breaths.

"You should have seen the look on his face when he tried to kill me," Sylar retorted.

"You cannot take my brain."

"Please, what would _I_ want with _your_ brain?" Sylar held up his finger in the direction of Ando's forehead. "Where is Peter Petrelli?"

"I don't know."

Ando let out a scream of pain. Sylar was about ready to take another innocent life and I wasn't going to stand for it. I knew my words meant nothing to him at this point so I needed to take action. With all of the air I could gather in my hand, I pushed it out towards Sylar. He stumbled back upon impact and Ando stopped screaming. Ando was still stuck on the wall, but at least his head was still in place.

Sylar sneered at me. "Don't make me bring you to your brother in pieces."

"Don't hurt him and you don't have to," I said.

"You're all about deals tonight, aren't you? Well then, here's mine: sit on the side lines while I have a pep talk with the intruder."

Before I could say anything, my body was flung over to the other side of the room. I hit a couple of paintings upon impact. I laid on the ground in shock, but quickly moved to get back up. When I did, a man suddenly appeared in front of me out of thin air.

"Where is he?" Sylar continued to ask Ando.

The man looked around the room frantically until his eyes laid upon the sword Ando was carrying. He looked at me and I recognized him immediately. It was Hiro Nakamura. He gave me a reassuring nod and turned back to Sylar's direction.

"Let him go," Hiro commanded, holding up the sword.

Sylar turned to Hiro. "I don't think I'm going to."

"Hiro," And called out.

They began muttering to each other in a foreign language that I assumed to be Japanese. It was hard for me to even understand what they were saying from observation since their dialect was so fast. I mean Spanish speakers can be fast too, but not this fast. I guess I'll just stick to Spanish and English.

"All you have to do is stop time before I cut off his head," Sylar taunted. "Do you think you can do your little trick before I can do mine?"

Sylar smirked at Hiro as if he knew that he won. Then…nothing. Sylar didn't move and when I looked over to Ando, his pained expression was frozen in place. What was going on? I got up to my feet as Hiro turned to face me.

"What's going on?" I asked him.

"I stopped time," Hiro smiled at me. "My powers still work."

"Why do I get the feeling that you recently got your powers?"

"I did lose my powers at one point, but now they're back and I'm here to save you and Ando."

I should have felt relieved that someone was coming to my rescue, but then I remembered Cole. Sylar could easily go after Cole for leverage instead of me. As much as I wanted to be out of here, I needed to be here to protect Cole.

"You can't," I said.

Hiro looked at me confused. "Why not?"

"He let go of my friend so that I could be leverage to Peter. I have to stay here or he'll go after him."

"What's your friend's name?"

"Cole, why?"

"Just curious," he said quickly.

"So did you save her—Charlie, I mean? Ando told Peter, Cole and I where you were when we went to meet you."

"No," he replied, his tone grave. "There was nothing I could do to save her."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too. You're a good person, Air Maiden. You don't deserve what would have or could have happened to you."

"And what happened to me?" I questioned cautiously. From the look on his face, Hiro obviously knew more about me than he was letting on.

"It doesn't matter. Just know this: never give up without a fight. Goodbye for now, Air Maiden."

I know I didn't like being called that, but coming from his mouth it sounded like an honor to have that name. He gave a short bow before disappearing. I blinked again and Ando was gone as well. Sylar looked frantically around the room for either of the Japanese men. After he had given up hope for them, he looked to me.

"At least I have you," he smirked. "Guess I shouldn't have betted against a time-traveler."

"Well you are playing with fire right now," I pointed out. "If you were following me around all day then you would know there are more of us planning to stop this bomb."

"Then let them come." Sylar glanced back at the painting of Kirby Plaza. "I guess if I can't find Peter, I'll just have to wait for him. And here is where you become useful."

Sylar stalked up to me. "Take me to Kirby Plaza."

"I'm not a taxi service. You can't just tell me what to do."

"If you rather I go looking for your friend, then I suggest you do what I say."

"Fine," I said through clenched teeth. "Hold on to my waist and don't let go."

I shivered as he placed an arm around my waist. I prayed my powers would make this faster than it had to be. I wrapped an arm around him as well and sped out of the loft. By the time we were outside, I jumped up into the air and began to fly across New York. I avoided eyes with Sylar as much as I could throughout the flight. My eyes were concentrated on the ground to desperately find Kirby Plaza. When I did see it from a distance, I quickly swooped down towards it.

The landing was a lot messier since I was rushing the whole time so we ended up stumbling almost enough to fall to the ground. Once I was stable, I pushed out of Sylar's grip. Well, I had survive a close creepy encounter with a serial killer crossed off my Bucket list. I looked around Kirby Plaza to see that it was completely empty.

"Now what?" I asked.

"We wait and you don't go anywhere."

I took a seat on the ledge of the fountain and did as I was told. Within an hour, at least, it would happen. The one event I dreamed about in my nightmares was about to come true. Peter was going to explode. I wanted to text Peter and tell him not to come, but I knew he wouldn't listen to me. My situation would only motivate him more to come over here. Besides, he already knew where to go.

Thankfully Sylar didn't try to taunt me again while we were waiting. I didn't know if I could stand against another one of those without breaking down. The things he said were cruel, but true. Then again, the truth is usually cruel.

"Looks like the show is about ready to begin," Sylar grinned as he held a hand out to me. "Come on, you don't want to worry your brother now, do you?"

I only stared at his hand. "I think I'll be fine right here."

His grin quickly transformed into a scowl as he pulled me up by my arm and held me up against his chest.

"Don't make a sound," he hissed at me as his hand covered my mouth.

I watched silently as I was being pulled a distance away from the fountain. Once we were a certain distance away, I saw Peter walking with Mr. Bennet. I wanted to scream at them to get away, but Sylar obviously learned his lesson from the last time he left me alone. Sylar then began to stalk closer to them while pulling me along.

Mr. Bennet had his back turned to us while Peter faced the opposite direction yet didn't spot us. With his free hand, Sylar tapped Mr. Bennet's shoulder. Mr. Bennet faced us with wide eyes before Sylar flung him across the plaza. Mr. Bennet hit a pillar dropping the gun in his hand.

"What took you so long?" Sylar taunted Peter. "Your sister and I have been waiting."

I struggled against his grip in my attempt to get free. I pulled against the arm that was holding me, but his strength was out matched mine. I thought occurred to me then. It was immature, I'll admit. But when you're a hostage, the only thing you can think of is escape. I bit onto his finger—hard enough to almost draw blood. He took his grip off of me as a reaction. I quickly moved away before he could grab me again.

"You little bitch," he snarled.

"Yeah, I bite," I snapped. "Deal with it you son of a bitch."

Once again I felt my throat closing in on me. I gasped for as much air as I could to survive. Tonight had many records. One of them being choked more times than I ever had in my whole life.

Sylar ignored my struggle and faced Peter. "Haven't I killed you before?"

"Didn't take," Peter spat. "Let her go. She has nothing to do with this."

"She's your sister, therefore she's connected to you." Sylar held up is other hand causing Peter to choke as well. "You think I'm gonna let you ruin it all, take all of the glory?"

Gun shots suddenly fired. Parkman came into view holding a gun in his hand. Sylar was prepared though. He held up the free hand he had to stop the bullets and reflect them back to Parkman. All four of them hit Parkman in the chest and he collapsed against the pillar.

"Stop it, please," I gasped out. "It doesn't have to be like this."

"It does and you know that," Sylar answered. "Now here comes the part where your brother watches you die first."

My throat closed in tighter within an instant. I fought for air, but there wasn't any to breath. I began to feel dizzy and light headed. Just as I was about to black out, I saw a figure flash before my eyes. _Bang!_ I collapsed to the ground gasping for air. I looked up to see Cole holding up a crow bar as Sylar rubbed the back of his head.

Sylar smirked at Cole. "Really, we're going to try that again?"

With a flick of his hand, the crow bar flew out of Cole's hands and pushed Cole across the plaza as well. Although, I was weak, I got up and flew over to him. Luckily I caught him before he crashed against the wall. I used my power to stop just a foot away causing us to collapse to the ground.

"You came back for me," I said breathless.

"I said I would," Cole smiled weakly. "You can't get rid of me that easy."

In the past week, Cole saved my life two times. That was more than I did since I got my powers. He knew he would powerless against Sylar yet he still came marching up with that stupid crow bar.

I didn't know what I was, an act of impulse or extreme gratitude, but I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you. You're my hero."

Cole was speechless to my action. _Bam!_ I tore my attention away from Cole to see that Sylar was hitting Peter with a parking meter.

I got to my feet. "Stay here."

I sprinted towards the battle for any help I could offer Peter.

"Did you really think you could stop me?" Sylar snarled at him.

Sylar went to hit him again, but I put enough air between Peter and the parking meter that it was almost impossible for Sylar to overcome that barrier.

"No, we know we can stop you," I said to him in triumph.

Then from behind, a blond woman grabbed the parking meter from Sylar's hands and hit him in the stomach. Sylar collapsed to the ground upon impact.

"Nice hit, Blondie," I praised the woman.

"Thanks," she said.

"Mom, Dad needs your help!" I turned to see a little African American boy standing in front of a man almost covered in blood.

Peter got up from the ground. "Get back to your family. I got this."

The woman wasted no time in running back to help her family.

Peter faced me. "Danni, get back to Cole and find a safe spot. I can handle this."

I wanted to protest, but I knew this wasn't the time for it. I ran back to Cole and helped him up to his feet. I supported him as I guided him away from the scene. I brought him near where the woman's family was since it was the furthest I would go.

"Are you okay?" I asked Cole.

He looked at me incredulously. "You're the one who almost got choked to death and you're asking me if I'm okay?"

"Well are you?"

"I'm in shock, but I'll get over it. I'm just glad you're okay."

"I told you I would."

Cole smiled at me for a moment before blanking out. "Danni."

I looked in the direction he was facing and froze. It was happening here and now. Peter's hands glowed as they did earlier today, but from the look of it, he didn't have control. I was too far to hear what they were saying but I could clearly see the arrogant smirk on Sylar's face. Peter and I locked eyes as if this was going to be our last goodbye.

Hope came once again when Hiro appeared in the plaza. Hiro charged towards Sylar and quickly lunged his sword into his chest. I tensed as I saw the life leave from Sylar's eyes. He may have been a serial killer, but it was all the same. Death was tragic. Sylar collapsed to the ground. Peter called out for Hiro. I knew what he wanted him to do.

He wanted Hiro to kill him before he killed millions. Cole held onto my hand as I tried to hold back my tears. I never got to say goodbye to him.

Suddenly, Hiro was tossed away from Peter and towards the building ahead. Hiro disappeared before he could crash into the windows. Now a new panic set in. Peter would live to destroy millions of lives. I thought of leaving. I thought of flying away with Cole and never coming back, but I felt that was unfair. The family ahead of me didn't have that advantage and I couldn't carry more than one person.

Peter once again struggled for control. I wished there was something I could do to stop this. Anything. Parkman, Bennet, the woman and her family and Cole…they didn't deserve to die from this. If I could I would take New York away with me now as Peter exploded. A thought suddenly occurred to me, _Wait, I can fly._

I glanced over to Cole. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Wait, what are you—?" His confused expression turned to panic. "No, don't do this. There has to be another way."

"Cole, I'll die anyway if I let him explode here. You said it before I have the power to make a difference. I'm doing just that."

"To help people," he stated. "Not to go on a suicide mission."

"It's my life or millions and you. I'm not going to take that chance. Goodbye, Cole."

I moved out of his grip before he could convince me otherwise. I marched up to Peter who was hunched down as his whole body was beginning to glow.

"Peter," I called.

Peter turned to look at me. "Danni, what are you doing here? Get out of here."

I shook my head. "You said there was a way I could help. Here it is." I held out my hand. "Take my hand."

"No. I'm not going to let you do this."

"You have to. It's either me or New York."

"I choose you."

"You can't," I said, tears running down my face. "Because if you go off, I will die anyway and I won't live with the fact that I did absolutely nothing to help you."

"Please, don't."

"Get over here or else I will grab you and we will fly up."

"No, there's another way."

Peter nodded his head in the opposite direction. I looked over to see Claire holding up the gun to Peter. I waited for Claire to shoot it, but no bullet came out. She was trying to hold back her tears as I was.

"Do it!" Peter shouted to Claire. "You're the only one, Claire."

"Tell me there's another way, please," Claire cried.

"Shoot me. There is no other way."

"Yes there is, Peter," I said. "Me. You know I could do it."

"I won't let you."

"Not you too, Danni," Claire cried out once again.

"There is no other way, Claire. I'm sorry," I said.

I offered my hand to Peter once again, but something got in the way. Nathan dropped from the sky in front of Claire.

"Yes, there is, Claire," Nathan told his daughter. "The future isn't written in stone."

"I took his power, Nathan," Peter said. "I can't control it. I can't do anything."

Nathan walked towards us. "I'm not leaving you, Peter. There's another way to end this and you know it."

"I already tried that," I said weakly. "He won't budge."

"I can't let you die—either of you," Peter said firmly.

"And I can't let everyone else," Nathan replied as he glanced back at Claire. He looked back at us. "You saved the cheerleader so we could save the world."

"You don't have to do this, Nathan," I told him. "You have a life. I don't."

"You've barely just begun. I would never forgive myself if I let you do it."

"I love you, Nathan," Peter said. "I love you, Danni."

"I love you too," Nathan returned. "Danni, I love you as well. Don't forget that."

"I'll miss you, Nate," I choked through my tears.

I didn't want Nathan to go through with this, but there was nothing I could do to stop him. Peter was his brother. He was more than willing to sacrifice himself for that.

"You ready?" Nathan asked Peter.

Peter nodded his head. Nathan swooped him in his arms and flew him up to the sky. I watched the sky as I waited anxiously for what would happen next. I was right about Nathan. He would be an ass to everyone but when it came down to his brother, he would do the right thing. I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder. I didn't tear my eyes away from the sky though. Nathan did care for me after all.

Then a bright light glowed in the sky blowing away the clouds around it. The tears began to spill over and I collapsed onto the person next to me.

"Sh…It's okay, it's gonna be okay," the person cooed.

I realized I was Cole's arms and I wrapped my arms around him. "They're really gone. I'm alone."

"No, you're not. You have me."

I continued to hold onto Cole as I let out my tears. How I would go on without my brothers was a new journey all together.

"Hey, at least we saved the world," Cole whispered to me.

"We did," I forced a smile. "That's probably something we can put on our college applications."

"Yeah, I can definitely say my fan boy dream has been lived."

"I'm gonna miss them so much."

"Me too. Do you want to go now?"

"Not yet. I just need a couple moments."

Cole nodded as he led me to the fountain. We sat there in the comfort of each other's arms trying to let the whole incident sink in. Even when the ambulance arrived, we remained silent. Everything that happened to me—to everyone—I would have never imagined on my own. I never expected to see someone die right in front of my eyes, I never dreamed of flying over New York City without the aid of a plane, and I never thought I would have to go on with my life without my brothers. It was clear that I loved Peter from the beginning, but my love for Nathan was vague. There were times were I wanted to rip his head off yet there were the others where I just wanted him to be my brother. I never thought I would lose both of them this way.

"Hey."

I lifted my head from Cole's chest to see Claire giving me a weak smile.

"Hey," I replied. "Where've you been all night?"

"Long story. You?"

"Long story."

"I'm sorry about what happened," she said barely above a whisper.

"Danni, I'm gonna go get myself checked out in case Sylar did some internal damage," Cole said to me.

I nodded and he left the scene so Claire and I could talk privately.

"You don't have to be sorry, Claire," I told her. "Someone had to die."

"I know. I just wish it wasn't them."

"I'm sorry you never got the chance to get to know Nathan."

"It's okay. It's like you said before, I already have a dad that cares about me and a family I love. Nathan was never going to replace that."

I smiled up at her. "I'm happy for you. You're stronger than you make yourself out to be, cheerleader. So how's your dad? I saw him take a nasty fall thanks to Sylar."

"Right here." Mr. Bennet stood next to Claire. "I was about to get my arm checked out, but I figured I better say goodbye just in case."

"Thank you for helping Peter and all of us," I said. "I know you probably only did it for Claire, but I'm still grateful."

"You saved my daughter's life. It was the least I could do."

I resisted arguing with him about the matter. I wasn't feeling up to it anyway. "Well thanks and it was nice meeting you, Mr. Bennet."

"Please, call me Noah."

"So it's just you and Angela now, huh?" Claire asked.

I nodded. "Unfortunately. But I'll deal."

"You have to promise me one thing though: we have to stay in touch."

"Definitely." I got up from seat and handed her my phone. "I'll text you back with my number later."

Claire entered her number in my phone and handed it back to me. "I guess I'll talk to you later then."

"We will." I embraced Claire. "Take care of yourself and listen to your dad on occasion."

"I will. If you need anyone to talk to, I'm only a phone call away."

I pulled away from the embraced wiping away the new tears streaming down my cheeks. "Goodbye, Claire. Bye, Noah."

I walked away from the pair and towards Cole. The paramedic was finishing checking up on Cole when I arrived.

"Thanks, man," Cole said to the paramedic before facing me. "So how did it go?"

"Emotional, but what can you do? We're going to keep in touch so this isn't the last of our conversations."

"That's good. Well, there's nothing wrong with me so do you want to head home now?"

"Sure. Let's go."

Cole jumped off from the ambulance truck. "Everything's going to be okay. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know as long as you're here with me everything's going to be all right."

Smiling he took his coat off of him, and placed it on my shoulders. "That's funny. I was thinking the same thing."

In response I smiled as I well. I didn't know why, but the comfort of having Cole next to me made me happy. He wrapped an arm around me as he guided us away from the plaza.

"So are you flying us home or are we going to have to pay a taxi to take us there?" Cole teased.

"I had to fly Sylar over here. I think I'll go with the taxi."

We shared a small laugh as we walked into the city.

_Life and fate are completely two different concepts. Life is a cycle in which everything goes in order. Fate is an interruption in that cycle. As much as we try to avoid fate, it's there and haunting us forever. But fate isn't exactly a bad thing. You meet friends, allies and lifelong companions through fate. You may think you're alone, but with over one billion people on this earth there has to be at least one person who you can come to, trust with your deep dark secrets and to share a laugh with on occasion. My journey has taught me just that. Anywhere you go. Anywhere you look. There will always be someone there for you to travel with you through the darkness and to the light. We conquered the darkness this time to see the sun again, but like any other ordinary day the sun must go down and the moon will rise. This was only the beginning of my story. _

* * *

><p>And that is season one! Thank you for everyone who has read the story this far. The next season will continue on this same story so nobody has to go hunting for it. As kind of preview of next season, you'll Danni go off on her own more often than she is interacting with the other canon characters and it's about thirteen chapters. It'll still highlight the major events but she's doing her own thing at the same time. Let me know what you thought in the reviews and maybe the next chapter will come up faster than you think ;)<p>

~Emyrox567


	24. Absentminded

In the Eyes of Deception

_A masquerade. That's exactly what we make our lives out to be—or at least we try. We want others to see the light instead of the darker realities of our lives. We want to hide the pain, the sorrow, the regret—anything that makes us feel lonely inside and replace it with a false sense of hope. We smile at strangers and wave at our friends to give them the satisfaction of reassurance. Reassurance that nothing is wrong and there is nothing to worry about. But if you ever do find that person that sees the dark and the light then you start to understand that you were never alone. The masks never came on because they knew who you were in the first place before the drama and before the tears. And the scariest part: you knew them too. _

My eyes fluttered open at the sound of my alarm clock. I reached over to shut it off, but continued to lay in bed. I stared up at my blank ceiling trying to decide if it was worth getting out of bed that day. I wanted a new start. A clean slate. It was just the question of whether or not I was ready to move on. No—I was ready. I guess it was the fear of failure that prevented me from moving out of this bed. Just as I was about to close my eyes again, my phone vibrated on the nightstand.

Groaning, I reached over to answer it. "Hello?"

"You're not sleeping in, are you?" a familiar demanding voice came from the other side.

I recognized that voice anywhere. Ava Shah had been keeping tabs on me since the bomb almost a year ago. I went into shock after I had learned the true results of event. Granted, she didn't know the real reason why I was depressed but she still felt that it was her duty to put me on "suicide watch." Hence the current phone call. Since then we started spending more time with each other. Ava would invite me over for movies and ice cream while she would come over to sleepover. Even though she didn't know everything, it was still nice to talk to someone who believed that it was physically impossible for people to fly. Except now when I'm just trying to get up at six AM.

"What makes you think that?" I asked, groggily.

"I knew it! You were going to back out."

"I'm not going to back out. I just need some time."

"You had eight months of time, Petrelli," she told me sternly. "You are not missing your first day of senior year."

I moved the covers and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. "Fine. What's the big deal anyway? It's just another year of high school."

"OK. I'm going to pretend that you never said that. It's senior year for crying out loud! One more year of required education until we finally step out into the real world. Not to mention we're the big dogs on campus now."

"I don't know, Ava. The real world isn't all that it's cracked up to be."

"So? Where would the fun be if everything was easy? Besides, this is a new start for you." She gave a heavy sigh. "I know this is hard for you right now, but he would want you to be happy and celebrate your senior year."

"I know. I'll be at school, okay?"

"You better. Or else I'm going to have to be your personal alarm clock."

"Dully noted." I smiled. "I'll see you in an hour."

"Good, see you then."

I ended the call and went to get ready. Although I was slightly afraid of Ava's wrath, I knew she was right. If I wanted to move on, today was the day. I couldn't be the sad lonely girl forever. Once I cleaned myself up and slipped on a fresh pair of clothes, I went down to the quiet kitchen to have a bowl of cereal to myself.

Remember last year when my foster mother, Angela almost completely ignored me? Well—it was worse now. Ever since the events eight months ago, she had been keeping a close eye on me. She even went to one of my dance rehearsals to make sure that I wasn't too light on my feet if you know what I mean. It annoyed me more than anything. She was attempting to be someone she would never be: my mom. Besides I was already angry with her. Apparently she wanted the bomb to happen and kill millions of lives. It was a mission to "heal the world"—her words not mine.

But thankfully she wasn't up to see me off this morning. I really didn't feel like arguing with her. _Creak. _I perked my head up in the direction of the doorway. Someone was here and I had an idea of who it was.

"Danni?" the voice called.

"In here!" I replied to the voice.

Surely enough, it was who I expected it to be. Cole Bowman strode into the kitchen. "So you are up."

"Did Ava ask you to come here?" I questioned. Cole assisted in Ava's attempt to help me move on.

"She did, but I would've anyway." Cole placed his bag on the counter. "Just in case, you know."

"I need this day to make me feel normal again. I wouldn't miss it."

"I know that. To tell you the truth it's something I need too. But if you come to a point to where you can't handle it—"

"I'm not going to cave," I cut in. "I'll be fine. Like I said, I just need to feel normal and everything will be okay."

Cole still stood as the only friend that knew about my abilities. He was the only one that could understand the dilemma I was struggling with. Like Ava, he spent an excessive amount of time with me. We would see cheesy movies, go out to parties and basically anything to get me into the social setting. In a way we were trying to recreate what it was like before super powers, serial killers and constantly worrying about an apocalyptic future.

"Well, in that case, we should start heading to school," said Cole. "C'mon, I have something to show you."

I finished up my cereal, grabbed my bag and followed Cole out of the Petrelli Mansion. When I tried to continue walking the usual way we did to school, Cole stopped me.

He shook his finger in front of me. "Na uh. Walking to school is for underclassmen."

I quirked an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Ms. Petrelli, I present to you, Sydney Bowman." Cole leaned against a green rusted jeep.

"You got a car?"

"Yep. Working in my uncle's shop part time and baby sitting over the summer pays off."

"Wow, that's great." I grinned. "You deserve it."

"So, do you want a ride to school?"

"Depends. Are you really going to name your car Sydney?"

"What? She's my pride and joy. The least she deserves is a name."

I shook my head. "Whatever you say. I'm just glad that you're here with me while I'm in one piece."

Cole smiled and opened the passenger door. "To school we go."

We arrived at school sooner than I would have liked. The setting seemed different from than I was used to. I saw the new freshmen class stick together like a pack, the sophomores pretending to be cooler than they actually were, and the juniors celebrating the fact that they were half way through high school. I couldn't speak for the seniors since I was having a hard time deciding how I felt on my first day of school.

Cole and I began to walk up to the school.

"Senior. That does have a good ring to it," he mused.

"It only lasts a year, you know. And then next year we're back at the bottom in college." I stopped. "Oh God. College. I never even thought about it."

"It's okay. You were going through a hard time. Anyone would forget something important like that."

"Have you started applying yet?"

"I've started writing my applications…but never mind. Let's just focus on today." He paused. "Listen, there's a senior bonfire happening at the beach tonight. I was wondering if you wanted to go—with me."

His voice seemed nervous as if he never asked me to do anything with him before. I tried to understand why he was suddenly acting like this, but before I could ask the question he spoke again.

"As friends," he added coyly. "You know, just hanging out."

"Sure, definitely. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine."

"Hey, Cole buddy!" I turned to see Dylan marching up to us. "How was your summer?"

"Busy," Cole answered. "Yours?"

"Amazing. Just me, food and video games."

I crossed my arms. "Was there any time for dancing in your lazy schedule?"

"Nice to see you too, Petrelli," he winked at me.

"We're captains of the dance team this year. You need to start taking this more seriously."

"I know. I promise to be nice to the freshmen…you I'm not so sure about."

"Don't make me hurt you…again."

Cole stepped in between us. "C'mon, guys. Can you two at least make a peace treaty this year? You've been going on like this since seventh grade."

I sighed. "Cole's right. It's about time we grew up. So is it a truce?"

Dylan and I stared at each other blankly for a few long moments. Then a smile climbed on my lips as the same reaction happened to him. We laughed at the idea. I didn't hate Dylan. There were just many occasions where he annoyed me to death and it was obvious he took pleasure in my annoyance.

"Good one, Petrelli," Dylan praised. "But I came here for Cole. We have English together first period. What's your first class?"

I glanced at the schedule in my hands. "Physics."

"Aw, looks like you're going to have to spend an hour away from your boyfriend."

"For the last time, we are not—"

"Going to be late for class," Cole finished for me. "If we don't head to English now, we'll be late. I'll see you in Gov, Danni."

Cole left with Dylan in a flash. That was strange. He was acting normal when he came to pick me up for school, but now he seemed at little off. I figured he was just going through one of his "Cole" phases and waved it off. Leaving that aside, I made my way to my first class. I was supposed to meet Ava, but she texted me to let me know that she was going to be late so I decided to go my own way.

You know that theory about the earth becoming overpopulated with humans? Well, there was evidence of it herding through the hallway. I was pretty sure more than half of them were freshmen. I maneuvered around the crowd of students as I struggled to keep my books wrapped in my arms. I never liked being in big crowds. Ironic considering I live in New York, but I always found ways to have my space. I guess that just adds to one of the downfalls of the ability to manipulate air. I can breathe better and hold in my breath than the average person, but when it came to closed spaces I found myself panicking.

Just as I finally broke free with the crowd, my body collided with another causing me to drop all of my books and the summer assignments within them.

I bent down to clean up my mess. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going."

"It's cool," the stranger's voice said. "I hardly made it out of there alive too. It makes it feel we're being caged like animals."

"Weird, that's something I would say." I saw hand reach over with my physics book in its hand.

I took the book from the hand and looked at the stranger's face. The stranger was a boy with straggly brown hair and green eyes. He appeared to be just as old as I was yet youthful. For some reason, I found myself mesmerized by his eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

I pulled myself out of the trance. "Yeah, sorry, there was something in my eye."

I collected my other book from the ground and stood up as the boy followed.

"I'm Chad," he introduced.

"I'm Danni," I replied.

"I know."

I froze unsure of how to react. The last time someone knew who I was, they wanted to use me as lab rat.

"I've seen you in your dance competitions," he explained. I gave a silent sigh of relief. "You're really good."

"Thanks. Have you gone to this school the whole time? Sorry, I just haven't seen you ever."

"I have since freshman year…on and off. I've met your friend, Cole. We're in the same musical theatre group."

"Oh. He hasn't mentioned you before."

Chad shrugged. "I don't see why he would. So what's your first class?"

"Physics with Fisher."

"Same here. Do you want to head over with me?"

I blushed uncontrollably. "Sure. Why not?"

I walked alongside Chad as we walked down the hall.

"So are you dancing this year?" he asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I'm the captain along with Dylan Harris."

"Nice. Is Dylan the only guy on that team or are there others?"

I sniggered. "No. There are others. Dylan just gets more attention because he's Dylan and as much as I hate to admit it, he's a good dancer."

"I see. Well, here we are." He stepped aside allowing me to enter the classroom first.

I walked ahead of him and spotted Ava sitting at an empty lab table.

I turned to him. "I'll see you later, Chad."

"Definitely," he smirked.

I quickly turned away to hide the blush on my cheeks. I didn't know what, but there was something about him that made me have butterflies in my stomach. The way he smirked at me almost made me want to fall to my knees—wait a minute. Am I really sounding like one of those girls who think they've found the one? Just this morning I was contemplating whether or not I should go to school and now I was losing it with this guy. _Pull yourself together, Danni. You're better than this._

I took a seat next to Ava. "I told you I would be here."

"I knew you were going to come regardless," she smiled at me. "So what were you doing with Chad Parker?"

"I bumped into him, we talked, walked to class and that's pretty much it."

"Don't play the denial card on me. I saw you smiling."

I was taken aback. "I was smiling?"

"Like a little girl with a huge crush."

"What about you and Cody Hastings?" I cornered. "You've had a crush on him since—ever. Remember? You fell in love with his voice." I received a glare from the last comment. "Your words not mine."

"Don't turn this around on me," she said. "You have a crush, Danielle Petrelli. And guess what? He's cute and he's totally into you. Go for it."

"The timing's horrible though. I just got ready to move on. I don't think I need a relationship for that."

"Do whatever makes you happy, Danni. That's all that matters."

I nodded. "So are you going to the bonfire?"

"Yeah. Are you?"

"Yeah, I'm going with Cole."

She quirked an eyebrow. "You're going with Cole?"

"Why is that such a surprise? We're just going as friends."

"Sorry, you made it sound like you were…"

"Going out. No. We're just friends."

"Whatever you say."

Aside from the event that morning the rest of the school day dragged on. The hype that Ava described about senior year quickly faded away. I was right. It was just another year of high school. The final bell rang and I waited outside of the school for Cole. I wasn't looking forward to visiting Peter's apartment, but I knew I owed him at least that.

I guess it's time I told you. Eight months ago, when Peter nearly blew up New York City both of my brothers' lives weren't lost. Just one. Peter was the one that died that night, not Nathan. I was shocked at the news to say the least. I thought with Peter's healing ability he would be able to live, but they never found his body yet Nathan was mysteriously rushed to the hospital right after.

He was in really bad shape. I barely recognized his face. It was as if the explosion had melted half of his face to a point where his face was barely recognizable. Nathan wasn't doing well physically either. They had to attach an IV to him because his organs were just barely functioning to let him digest his food. As for Peter, we had to declare him dead since there was no sign of him. I visited Nathan in the hospital as much as I could. We didn't talk much, but I would bring in movies to watch or a book to read aloud to him. Ever since Peter's death, something inside of him changed. He wasn't the arrogant pain in the ass I knew eight months ago. Now he was the pessimistic drunk.

When we all thought he wasn't going to make it, we were proved wrong. One morning he woke up and he was completely healed. Everyone said it was a medical miracle, but I had my doubts. It wasn't luck. Someone had to have gone in there and healed him somehow. I know that sounds vague, but it's all I've got. You would think that after surviving an almost impossible injury, he would have lived life to the fullest. Well, he didn't.

"Hey, loner."

I tore away from my thoughts and turned my attention to my side. It was Chad smirking at me.

"Are you waiting for somebody?" he asked.

"Yeah, a friend. He's my ride home."

"Gotcha. So are you planning to head over to the bonfire tonight?"

I nodded. "It's senior year, right? Might as well live it up."

"You say that like it's an obligation."

"It's just an opportunity for me to get away for a bit."

"Physically or mentally?"

"Why do you even care?" I quipped. "You don't know me."

"Sorry, I'm just curious. Whatever situation you're in it sounds pretty complicated."

"I'm a complicated person so it's bound to happen."

"I can tell. Well, I better head home if I want to get to the bonfire on time. I'll see you there."

Again, he smirked at me before he left. As much as I was irritated at him for questioning me, I still felt my face heat up. I'll admit there was something that attracted me to him and it appeared that the feeling was mutual.

"How do you know Chad Parker?"

I turned to see Cole standing behind me. "I just met him in the hall today. He seems nice, but he's got that bad boy vibe to him. I'm still trying to decide if that's attractive or not."

I stopped when I noticed Cole's lips tighten. Something was wrong.

"Chad said that he knew you," I told him. "From what I can tell, there's a little bit of drama from the drama club."

"It's nothing really," Cole said forcing his voice to sound leveled. "He's just beats me to getting the leads in every musical we do and is always a step ahead of me."

"Is that it? He makes you feel like second rate."

"That and he's an arrogant prick. I wouldn't get too close to him."

"Can we head over to Peter's now?" I didn't want to argue with Cole on the issue. Chad was just a boy I met. That's it.

Cole nodded and led me to his car.

I tried to avoid the subject of our conversation involving Chad on the ride over to Peter's apartment. I would leave that part for Ava to drool over. I didn't understand why Cole hated him so much. Well, I didn't exactly know if he hated him. Possibly a strong dislike towards the fellow drama kid. All I knew was that Cole went cold when he saw me talking to Chad. I wanted to listen to Cole more than anything, but there had to be two sides to this story. There had to be.

We made our way up the steps to Peter's apartment once we arrived. I guess I should be saying old apartment now that he wasn't with us anymore. It didn't feel that long ago since Peter died. I still felt empty every time that I thought about him. When Cole and I made it to Peter's floor, we heard muffled shouting. I couldn't make out the argument, but I knew who it was and where it was coming from.

"Are you sure you want to go in there now?" Cole asked me warily.

I nodded. "I had to hear that all summer and more. This doesn't make a difference."

_Crash!_ Cole contained his concerned expression.

"I'll be fine," I reassured him. "By the sound of it actually, it looks like they're done. But I suggest you stay out here. This could still get ugly."

"I'll be out here in the hall if you need me."

I left Cole at the end of hall and walked towards the apartment door. Just as I was about to enter the key, the door swung open. My foster mother, Angela Petrelli opened the door looking distraught.

Her expression immediately changed into a forced smile. "Hello, Danielle. How was your first day of school?"

"Uneventful. Is he…stable?"

"You'll have to see for yourself. Good luck."

With that, Angela passed by me without a word of goodbye. Her mood was up and down when it came to Nathan. I caught her fresh out of a fight so she must have felt infuriated. Nathan on the other hand I was a little bit worried about.

I entered the apartment to find Nathan on his knees as he was cleaning up the shattered glass on the floor. Nothing had really changed here. Angela tried to pack away Peter's things, but Nathan wouldn't have any of it. So at that moment, Peter's apartment was frozen in time as if the bomb never happened.

But Nathan was the exception. His once clean shaved face was now harboring a bushy beard and his hair was untamed.

"Hey, Nathan," I greeted quietly.

Nathan looked up from the floor. "Hey, Danni. What're you doing here?"

"Just came by to say hi. I figured you would be here."

"Someone has to be here to make sure everything's okay when Peter comes back."

For the past few months since Nathan's recovery, he's been bent on the possibility of Peter's survival. As much as I wanted to believe that it was true, I couldn't bring myself to. Even though they never did find his body that didn't mean Peter just got up and walked away. OK—he could have done that with Claire's healing ability, but he would come back. And for the past eight months he's been gone.

"Nathan," I began, but he stopped me.

"Save it. I already yelled at Mom about that. I don't need to yell at you too." Nathan stood up and threw the pieces of glass into the trash can.

I noticed the unusually harsh tone in voice. "I'm not here to tell you what to do. I'm just suggesting you move on."

"How think Peter will feel when he comes home and finds out that we've forgotten about him?" he slurred.

"Are you drunk?"

"What does it matter to you?"

"Correction: are you drunk or stupid?" I snapped. "Did you really drive here like this?"

"Since when are you the boss of me?"

"Since I'm your sister. Peter wouldn't want you to be like this. He would want you to move on."

"This is what all of this is about, isn't it? Peter. You wouldn't be here if it weren't for him."

"You're right. You wanted the bomb to explode so that you could be the leader the world needed. You literally ignored the only daughter you have and basically thought of yourself throughout the whole situation as compared to Peter. But do you want to know why else I'm here?" I nearly screamed at him. "Because even when you had everything, you gave it all up to save the world—save me. If you hadn't gone up there with Peter, I would have and God knows what would have happened to me. I owe you more than I know, Nathan. So much, in fact, that as much as I want to rip your hair out right now, I can't let you waste your life like this."

"You don't owe me anything, Danielle," he replied darkly. "I did it so that Peter didn't live with the guilt of killing millions—including you. No matter how many times you believe that you know what I'm going through, you will never be able to feel my pain."

"I'm not sympathizing with you. I'm trying to help you. For the past summer I couldn't step out of the house without Cole or Ava having to drag me along. This morning, I couldn't find a simple motivation to get out of bed. The first day of senior year. Most kids dream about this day and it's magical, but I'm not like most kids. Most kids didn't have to lose a brother over the summer or have a near death experience. Ava had to call me to this morning to convince me to go to school—beg me almost. If it wasn't for them, I don't know what I would have done with myself."

"Your point?"

"I'm trying to tell you that you don't have to go through this alone. I miss him too. I mean, he was our brother. We can't be fighting like this and you need to get yourself together. For his sake at least."

Nathan didn't respond at first. This was the last thing Peter wanted from his family. I didn't know why I suddenly took the role of keeping this family together, but they were all I had left of Peter.

"Danielle," he finally spoke. "He wasn't our brother. He's my brother. I've known him longer than you ever will and the only reason you can call him brother is because my parents signed a few papers."

I stood there frozen as if he had just kicked me in the stomach.

"You're mother had to die so that you could become a Petrelli. But don't be so hard on yourself. You're not cursed like the rest of us."

I didn't understand why Nathan had to be so cold about the subject. I knew that he wasn't in his right mind, but that didn't stop the anger from boiling within me.

My lips tightened. "Fine. You don't want any help. So go ahead and drive back home the way you are now. Crash straight into semi-truck while you're at it. See if I care."

I stormed out of the apartment without even a glance as I tried to fight the tears in my eyes.

Cole drove me home after my fight with Nathan. He admitted that he almost went in there to intervene when he heard shouting, but I walked out of the apartment by the time he tried to do so. I understood Nathan was drunk. That was easy. But that didn't give him the right to say the things he did. I was frustrated more than anything. Ever since Nathan's medical miracle, he turned to alcohol to drown his guilt. Angela tried to get him in a program, but he was still as stubborn as ever.

In the process he gave up his seat in Congress and Heidi left him. She put a restraining order against him, if you really want to know how bad it was. Nathan hadn't seen his sons in months because of it. I guess I could understand why Nathan continued to believe Peter was alive. It was all the hope he had left.

I settled in my room once I got home. Cole went back to his house so he could get ready for the bonfire, so I was alone in the mansion again. As for Angela, I had no idea where that woman spent her time. I was about to pick out an outfit when I heard my phone buzzing in my pocket.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, Danni."

I smiled at the voice. "Hey, Claire. What's up?"

Claire Bennet and I kept in close contact in the months after the bomb. She updated me on her relocation to California while I spoke to her about Cole's antics to get me out of the house. I still found it hard to believe that she was Nathan's daughter—my niece. The connection was almost impossible. Not to mention she was indestructible.

"I had my first day of school today," she replied. "My first day as Claire Butler."

"So how did it go?"

"Mostly boring. My dad told me to keep as low as a profile as I can. So that means no more cheerleading."

"You do know that doesn't mean that I'm going to stop calling you cheerleader, right?"

"I figured as much." I heard her chuckle on the other line. "How was yours? Since you're a senior this year I would think you first day was more entertaining my first day as a junior."

I groaned. "Ugh. Not you too. Is this senior enthusiasm some kind of delicacy to high schoolers?"

"Well it's kind of what you hope for the minute you enter high school."

"I'll admit I did envy the seniors when I was freshman. I guess with everything's that happened, I've kind of forgotten about that."

"The same thing happened with cheerleading. After everything, I—it just didn't feel the same anymore."

"You're not alone, Claire," I told her. "We may be across the country from each other, but I'm only a phone call away."

"Today was…strange. I was used to seeing my friends again after summer vacation and gossiping about the new teachers we had. But today…I was alone. I didn't know anybody and for once I didn't have to prove myself to anyone."

"You did better than me. I couldn't pull myself out of bed this morning until my friend threatened me. I'm trying to keep it together, but every time I think I'm moving on completely—I break down. I've been through this pain before when my mom died. Only this time, it's stronger."

"I miss him too," she said.

"We can't dwell on the past, Claire. What happened—happened. We can't change that. Peter would want us to be happy. It's about time we think about now."

"Yeah. So back on the subject of today: how was your day? And be honest, did anything really happen?"

"When am I never honest?" I teased, glad that she changed the subject. "There's a bonfire tonight for the seniors. I'm gonna head over there with Cole."

"Cole?" she questioned, intrigued. "Again?"

"Yeah, just like always."

"Sorry. All summer I just heard you talking about your nights with Cole and the many things he said."

"We're not dating. I always hang out with Cole. Besides he asked me to go this morn—" I stopped.

"He asked you?"

Great, now I was implying something. "No—yes—but just as friends."

"Ah…"

I knew there was no point in fighting her in this one so I changed to subject. "Other than that, I met this guy today. He was kind of strange with a side of mystery to it."

"What does it look like?"

"He's tall, brown hair and amazing green eyes." I froze. "Did I just say that out loud?"

"What's his name?" Claire asked quickly.

"Chad Parker. Apparently him and Cole go way back and not in the good way."

"So do you like this guy?"

"I don't know. He's cute, but he's that got that bad boy persona written all over him."

"So? You're the emo girl."

"Thanks," I replied sarcastically. "And you're the peppy blond."

"I meant we're not exactly in a position to judge. When we're comparing who's freakier, you and I win that competition."

"I guess you're right. Okay, so I told you two interesting things today. You gotta at least tell me what happened to you."

"I almost got ran over by a car," I said bluntly. "And then the guy called me a robot."

"What?"

"He had this theory of people either being robots or aliens. Robots being the ones who follow conformity while aliens don't."

"A free thinker. I like him already."

"At least Chad had a mysterious edge to him. This guy was weird."

Now it was my time to tease. "What's his name?"

"West Rosen."

"Ah…what a very attractive name."

"Well—yeah—but he's weird."

"And we're not?"

"This is pay back, isn't it?" said Claire.

"And it was sweet. I could practically see you blushing."

"Please I saw you drooling the minute you started talking about Chad."

I looked up at the clock. There was a half hour left to get ready before I had to leave for the bonfire. "As much as I enjoy this banter, I have to go. I've got a bonfire to get ready for."

"Have fun. I'll talk to you later. Hopefully you'll see those _amazing_ green eyes there," she mocked.

"And hopefully your free thinker calls you _his_ robot," I teased back. "Talk to you later, Cheerleader."

I hung up the phone. Even Claire thought I was in deep with a guy I just barely met. I didn't know what it was. If it wasn't his eyes, it probably had to be the personality he gave off. It was like I wanted—no needed to get to know him. _Danni, stop! You are starting to sound like that sappy girl in the sparkly vampire book. _I shook my thoughts of Chad away and began to get ready for the bonfire.

I slipped on a fresh pair of jeans, a frilly white lace tank top that Ava bought for my seventeenth birthday and a pair of sandals. I put on the locket Cole gave me two years ago and curled my hair a little bit before making my way downstairs. I was about to step out of the door when Angela's voice stopped me.

"Where are you going?" she questioned.

I turned to her. "I'm going to a senior bonfire. Cole and Ava are kind of dragging me there."

"It's on a school night. Are you sure you should be going?"

Do you see what I meant by annoying?

"I'll be fine," I reassured. "I usually run on five hours of sleep anyway."

"Just be careful out there, Danielle."

I caught the urgency in her voice. "Is there something wrong, Angela?"

"No," she smiled. "I just worry for you that's all."

"Okay, I'll be home by eleven." I grabbed my jacket just as someone knocked on the door.

I opened the door to see Cole standing on the porch. He went casual like I did with a T-shirt, jacket and some jeans.

"Hey, Cole." I greeted as I closed the front door behind me. "Ready to go?"

Cole stood there, frozen for few moments before shaking his head. "Yeah, sorry. I was lost in thought for a second."

"It happens. C'mon let's go before Ava yells at us for being late."

We arrived at the beach to be met with wild raging high school seniors chasing each other across the parking lot. I began to feel that insecure feeling again.

"Maybe we shouldn't be here," I suggested to Cole. "I mean they're having a lot of fun without us."

When Cole the car into park, he faced me. "Am I hearing Danni Petrelli back down because she's scared of a little party?"

"I'm not scared. I just don't feel right being here."

"Look, for the past few months or so you've slowly been spiraling downward and the argument you just got into with Nathan proves that you need this. So let's get out of this car and have some fun like normal teenagers."

"Normal," I smiled weakly. "Sounds good to me."

I walked with Cole onto the beach in search of Ava. I looked around to see many of my classmates laughing and chatting with their friends as they sipped down some beer. We followed the light of the blazing fire until we finally found Ava.

She came running to us. "You guys actually came."

"I said I would," I pointed out.

"So now that you're here, you might as well live it up." Ava gestured to the music playing the background.

"Let's do it."

All of us went towards the part of the beach where everyone was dancing. We danced to every high beat song we could, laughed at Cole's attempt to do a simple hip hop move and sang along to the songs playing. After a good hour of straight dancing, we pulled aside and sat on the sand. I would have gone on longer, but I wasn't in the mood to dance on my own.

"So how do you feel, emo girl?" Cole asked.

"Why is everyone calling me that today?" I asked incredulous.

"I talked to Claire yesterday. You just happened to pop up in the conversation."

I laughed. "I'm actually having a good time for once."

Cole opened his mouth to say something, but Dylan jumped in front of us.

"I see the trio lives on," he noted.

"What are you doing here, Harris?" I rolled my eyes.

"I came to see Cole. You're not his only friend, you know." Dylan looked to Cole. "Cody wants to talk you, dude."

Cole was taken aback. "Why does he want to talk to me? We barely know each other."

"Besides you, he's one of my other friends. You'll know each other by association." Dylan pulled Cole up to his feet. "Hope you don't mind if borrow him ladies. He'll be back in a few."

Cole was dragged away by Dylan before either of us could question the action.

"How long do you think he'll keep him?" Ava nudged me.

"Hopefully soon," I answered. "He's my ride home."

"He drove you here?"

"Yeah, like he drove me to school this morning."

"Ah, he introduced you to Sydney."

"Why would anyone name their car?" I groaned.

"I don't know. Maybe it's a guy thing." Ava smiled in the opposite direction. "Speaking of guys, there's your dream guy coming over here now."

I looked in the direction Ava was staring in and saw Chad making his way towards us. Before I could stop myself, I smiled in his direction. I hid my face so that I could avoid catching his attractive smirk.

"Typical," Ava muttered.

I glanced back up again to see Chad talking to Brooke Hampton. Remember her? The pathetic strawberry blond that enjoyed my misery. I pretty much ignored her for the rest of the year. So far the method worked. She seemed to have given up on me and moved on with herself. But now as I watch her flirt with Chad, I felt something poisonous boiling in my stomach.

I took in a deep breath trying to shake off what just happened. "I'm not surprised. He reeks of playboy."

Then something unexpected happened. Chad shook his head towards Brooke and continued his way towards us. I hid my head once again. I didn't know which was worse: being rejected or someone rejecting another for you.

"I see you're making yourself comfortable here," Chad mused.

I smiled up at him. "The sand is comfy."

"Hm, never thought that would be possible."

"Trust me, anything's possible."

Ava coughed next to me.

"Oh I'm sorry, this is my friend, Ava," I quickly introduced.

"I'm the friend who watches her back so if you break her heart, I break yours," she smirked at him.

"Ava," I hissed.

"What? He needs to know the ground rules."

Thankfully it was too dark for Chad to see my face go red.

Chad chuckled in response. "Got it. So in that case, Danni, would you like walk with me?"

I found myself utterly speechless. Something about the invitation made my heart jump and beat a million miles per hour.

"She'd love to," Ava answered for me.

He looked towards me for confirmation. I nodded. "Yeah, sure."

Chad held out his hand. I took it and he helped me to my feet. "Are you going to be okay, Ava?"

"Don't worry about me. Besides I could still hang out with Cole."

"Cool, tell him I'll meet him later by the car."

I followed alongside Chad towards the shore of the beach. At first the walk was silent. I wanted to say something, but I was afraid that it would damage any possibility of getting to know him further. The subject itself irritated Cole.

I risked it anyway. "So, Chad, I need to know something. Is there something going on between you and Cole?"

"Just friendly competition," he shrugged. "He gives a good effort, I'll give him that."

"Are you sure there's nothing else? Because Cole seemed way more bothered than usual and he's Cole, so what's going on?"

"The musical theatre world is very competitive. The directors look for the best of the best and sometimes you're just not it. How we, as actors, handle that is different. I can't apologize for being what they want on various occasions."

"I can see your side on that."

"What about dancing?" he suddenly asked.

"What about it?"

"Isn't that competitive too?"

I nodded. "Extremely. You think you're the best one day and then the next someone comes along and steals the show."

"Don't some dancers go crazy from the competition?"

I don't know why but I laughed at the statement.

"And aren't the moms crazier?" he continued.

"Sometimes, yeah," I smiled.

"So tell me: did you start dancing because your mom made you or you thought it would be fun?"

"Actually, my mom didn't make me do anything. We were living in LA at the time when I saw my first flash mob. I was only three and already knew what I wanted."

"Wow, so she just supported you right there?"

"Basically," I answered. "Then it came to the point where we moved around too often to keep up with a dancing program, so I just taught myself by watching a bunch of Michael Jackson music videos."

"Michael Jackson?" He raised an eyebrow. "Am I speaking with an expert of the moonwalk?"

"Possibly," I teased. "I'm mostly into modern and hip hop dancing these days though. What about you and acting? Any story there?"

"Not as interesting as yours. My mom pulled me into a musical theatre camp when I thought we were going to soccer camp. It was just something I grew to love."

"I see. Dancing's just always been a part of my life. Even when things got bad, I could always dance to make myself feel better or to get my mind off of things."

"And we're back to the complicated life," Chad said. "I'm sorry about interrogating you earlier. It is your business and your choice whether or not you want to tell me. I was just curious about you, is all."

"Why? What's so interesting about me?"

"I don't know. I'm willing to find out though."

I hid my face once again, hoping he didn't see me blush. Why did he make me blush so much?

"Since we're trying to get to know each other here," Chad spoke. "I'll be the first to exchange my complicated story. My parents split when I was five. My dad moved to Florida and has been living there since then. I mostly live with my mom, but I live with my dad every summer and every other winter vacation. If they are ever in the same room together, God forbid."

"That's definitely complicated." I sighed. It was only fair since he shared his story that I would share a portion of mine. "My mom died when I was twelve, I was adopted two weeks later by the Petrelli family, and I've lived in New York since then. A year ago, my foster father killed himself, my brother died in an accident; my other brother became an alcoholic and my foster mother is too deceitful for my liking. On top of that, I have no idea who my dad is nor do I really care. And there is my complicated story."

Okay, maybe that was a little more than a portion. I just couldn't stop myself from talking for some reason. I was surprised I didn't tell him about the cause of my recently complicated life: my powers.

"Wow, you win," he said, awestruck at my story. "But I have to admit, I like it."

I stopped walking. "What?"

"You're different," he stated. "You've got a different story to tell from the others. That's pretty attractive in itself."

"Trust me; I'd trade my life for yours any day."

"Modest too. Another trait I admire."

"Did you just ask me to walk with you so that could take notes on me?" I inquired.

"Partly, yes." He moved closer to me. "The other part was getting to know you and vice versa."

"So what's the verdict?"

"A pretty girl with an ugly past. What about you?"

I resisted blushing at his comment. "A loner dude with a secret love of the theatre."

"Hey, if remember, I was the one that called you a loner."

"What can I say? I don't like the majority of people."

He laughed. "What about me?"

"Undecided. I still have to get past this whole bad boy thing you've got going."

"I see. Well I hope I'm one of those people you like because you're definitely on my top five."

I tried to hold back a smile, but failed. It was then I realized how close we were. Our bodies were nearly an inch away from each other and our hands were brushing. My heart picked up speed. For the first time in months, I could barely breathe. His face drew closer to mine and I was frozen. _Buzz!_ I jumped as my phone vibrated in my pocket.

"Sorry," I said as I took out my phone.

It was a text from Cole: "It's almost eleven. We should head home if we want to make curfew."

I texted back: "I'll be there."

I turned to Chad. "I'm sorry, I gotta get going. My ride's waiting for me."

"It's cool. I'll see you tomorrow, Emo-girl."

"See you, loner dude."

I walked away from Chad surprisingly smiling to myself. I don't think I've smiled like this for a long time. I don't know what overcame me when I was talking to Chad. It was like he made moving on easier for me than when was trying to get out of bed. I didn't have to pretend that I was okay because he didn't know I was hurting in the first place.

This year was definitely going to be different. But maybe that wasn't a bad thing.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! Before you butcher me about the timeline, I did extend it. That's really the only other thing that I change in this fandom so relax. On another note, season two is going to be short and sweet since there wasn't really any place for Danni to fit into the actual story line without it flowing naturally so I decided to improvise.<p>

Also, there is the review issue. I see the view count and it out numbers the reviews on this story by far so I know people are reading. It would be great if I could get a couple of reviews to tell me how I'm doing because I really don't know. I've written for a long time but I still like hearing constructive reviews and even the cliche "good chapter." I'm not asking for too much and I haven't asked this too often. Please review and this story will be updated faster. It'll help all us in the long run :)

~Emyrox567


	25. Rollercoaster Ride

Rollercoaster Ride

The next day I woke up refreshed. I couldn't explain it. My uncertainty of being able to move on suddenly disappeared overnight. I was ready to begin again. And all it took was that guy. Our conversation on the beach kept running through my mind. Aside from the subject of our complicated lives, I was able to forget everything. I forgot about the fight I had with Nathan, the aftermath of the explosion and…just everything. For a long time I was finally at peace.

I felt at peace when I was with Cole as well, but it different. Cole knew what was going on with me so he had the possibility of bringing up the subject while Chad knew nothing of what I was or what I went through the year before. Chad didn't have to ask me if I was okay because he didn't know that I was falling apart inside. I finally felt…normal.

"Hello?" a voice called to me. "Earth to Danni."

I shook away my thoughts and faced Cole as we walked in the hall. "Yeah?"

"You've barely spoken a word since I picked you up this morning. What's up?"

"Nothing. I've just got a lot on my mind."

"I'd say." Cole paused. "Ava told me that you went off with Chad last night. Is that true?"

I nodded. "We just talked."

"Talked?"

"Yeah, nothing wordless." I received a suspicious glare for that comment. "You know what I mean. We're just friends."

"You're friends now? You barely just met the guy."

"Look, I already talked to him about you and him. Chad isn't this malicious guy that you make him out to be."

"What exactly happened during this talk?"

"I don't know. It was just easy to talk to him," I said. "I would ask questions, he would answer—vice-versa. He was curious about me and I was curious about him. Chad made me feel normal again."

"Dump him then," Cole said bluntly. "Normal's boring."

"Seriously, what's wrong? Every time I mention Chad you suddenly turn into this different person."

"Maybe because Chad is a different person than what you think he is. I don't know what he told you, but this doesn't sound like the same guy I know."

"Well what about you? Up to this point you've been supportive of me and now that I'm generally happy, you're shutting me out?"

Cole opened his mouth, but the bell rang for our first period class. We stared at each other until Cole finally spoke.

"You're smarter than him, Danni," he said. "That's all I have to say."

Cole left before I could respond—well if I could respond to that. I still didn't understand why he couldn't at least be civil with Chad. I mean I'm civil with Dylan. Dylan. As in Dylan Harris the definition of the Devil's advocate of annoyance. I just hoped that this would wash over soon. I couldn't handle fighting with Cole right now. I walked off to my first class trying to forget the disagreement I had with Cole.

I arrived just as the final bell rang for class. I took my seat next Ava.

"Hey," I greeted.

Ava shook her head. "No, don't _hey_ me like nothing happened."

"What happened?"

"Seriously? You walk off with a hot guy and you don't even tell me what happened?"

Wow, I felt stupid. "Oh right, we just talked."

"What did you talk about?"

Unlike Cole, she seemed genuinely curious. I guess I should start turning to Ava about this stuff.

"We talked about what we liked," I began. "Our complicated back stories and…whether or not we found each other bearable."

"Yep, you two are totally into each other. All you have to do is make a move."

"I don't think I should be doing this in general. With Nathan and everything—"

"Would you please stop with the excuses?" she moaned. "That's all I heard out of you all summer and quite frankly I don't blame you which is why you deserve this. You deserve to be happy for once."

"Thank you, but it's already causing a strain on the limited amount of relationships I have."

"How did you feel last night when you were talking to him?"

"What?"

"Just answer the question."

I sighed thinking back to my walk with Chad. "I felt…different but normal at the same time. I felt peaceful again and there were butterflies in my stomach the whole time." I paused. "Oh God. I sound like a pathetic love song."

Ava laughed. "That's normal and you should go for it. Whoever's bringing you down about this, don't listen to them because you need to do something for yourself for once."

I nodded taking in her advice. It was about time I did something selfish. Cole would understand anyway. I felt happy when I was around Chad and Cole was going to have to accept that.

"So what did you do?" I questioned.

"Cody came up to me after you left," she smiled. "He said that he's heard me sing before during one of my choir performances and that I have an amazing voice. Isn't that sweet?"

"Definitely. Did you tell him he was a sexy god on the guitar and sang like a muse?" Ava gave me a glare. I held up my hands in defense. "These are your words I'm reiterating—not mine."

"No," she said. "I did tell him that I liked listening to his music when he performed in the talent show. We gave each other our numbers to call later. I could barely breathe."

"That's great, Ava. You deserve a relationship way more than I do."

"Speaking of relationships, when do you think you're going to talk to Chad again?" she asked.

"I have no idea. I mean we have classes together, but it's kind of strange just to come up to him and talk about how we feel."

"I see your dilemma. Watch and learn, Petrelli." Ava raised her hand.

I eyed her suspiciously. "What are you doing?"

"Trust me."

Our teacher, Mrs. Fisher called on her. "Ava?"

"Can I sit up front?" Ava asked, her voice innocent. "I can't see the board from here."

She wanted to move away from me? Why? Did I smell or something?

"Sure," Mrs. Fisher nodded. "Would anyone here in the front be willing to trade seats with Ava?"

"I'll go," a familiar voice volunteered.

I looked to the front of the class to see Chad with his hand raised. I shot Ava a glare realizing the true intent of her plan.

"Seriously?" I hissed. "How did you know he would raise his hand?"

"If he really likes you, he would know that I'm your friend and that I would be sitting with you. So when the time comes for me to trade seats, he would take the first opportunity to sit with you," she explained in a hushed tone.

I stared at her in shock. Ava was generally the stereotypic good girl. She did her homework on time, never broke any rules and listened to her parents. You wouldn't think that she was devious enough to come up with a plan like that. But trust me, when she wanted to be she could be clever in coming up with a plan.

"You're an evil genius, you that right?" I told her.

Ava only smiled at me before gathering her things. "Thank you."

She left the table without another word. I didn't know how, but she was going to pay for this. My heart picked up its pace when Chad took his seat next to mine. I looked up towards the front of the class to hide my flustered expression from him.

"Now that we have that squared away," Mrs. Fisher continued. "We're just going to finish up the worksheet I gave you yesterday. Like I said before, I want to know what you know about physics so no pressure."

"Fancy seeing you again," Chad said.

"We're in the same class so don't get too excited," I quipped. "Plus if that was a pick up line, you need to do some work."

"Dully noted. So how are you today?"

"I'm good but there's always room for improvement. How about you?"

"Same here. I had fun last night. You were a good person to talk to."

I blushed. "Thanks…So how far are you on the worksheet?"

"On the last page. Check this question out: 'Do you think it's physically possible for human beings to levitate off of the ground? Please state your reasons.'"

"Wow—that's pretty random."

"I'd say. What do you think?"

Last year I would say that only special children like Peter Pan could fly, but that wasn't the case. I could do more than levitate actually—that's not the point though.

I gave the best neutral expression I could come up with. "That question is kind of way out there—I mean there's gravity keeping us down all of time so why even ask the question?"

"I think that's the answer. No because there's gravity."

I let out silent sigh of relief. Glad that was over. I could keep a secret yet I found myself struggling to lie in order to keep it secret.

"Listen, are you doing anything tonight?"

The question caught me off guard. "No, why?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to see a movie or just walk around the city with me."

"Like a date?"

Chad half-smiled. "Sure. So what do you say?"

I tried to think of an answer to say, but as my mouth opened the words rolled out before I could understand what I was about to say. "Yeah, I'll go."

"Awesome. I'll pick you up tonight at seven?"

"Sounds great." I took out a piece of paper and scribbled my cell phone number and my address on there. "Here's my number and my address."

"Great, I'll give you a call later."

We spent the rest of class talking about anything other than the assignment we were supposed to do. We didn't talk about the aftermath of the bomb, moving on, or pretending to be normal. We just talked and it felt good.

By the time the final bell rang, I found myself getting ready for dance rehearsals. I couldn't stop thinking about the impending date with Chad that night. I was still deciding whether I was dreading or looking forward to it. When I came out of the locker room, I saw Cole was waiting for me.

"Hey, Cole." I looked at him with question. "What are you doing here? You know I have rehearsal."

"Why didn't you tell me about you and Chad?" he asked. "I had to hear it from Ava for God's sake."

"I barely saw you today. I tried to tell you during lunch but you were off with your theatre buddies and may I remind you that Chad is one of your kin."

Cole's lips tightened. This was more than not tell him about Chad.

"Why are you acting this way?" I nearly screamed. "You've been pretty content with anything that's associated with me, but when Chad pops up in a conversation you shut me out."

"Why did you say yes? I understand why he would ask you, but did you say yes?"

"Don't even answer a question with a question, Cole. Tell me what's wrong."

"I told you Chad is a bad guy, Danni way before your night with him and this morning yet you ignored my opinion and went off with him anyway while I've trusted your word all along."

So, he felt betrayed…this was progress.

"I'm sorry if I've hurt you," I said. "I needed to see for myself if it was true. He's really not a bad guy, but then again I can be wrong. Just let me be the judge of that."

"I don't want to see you get hurt."

"You won't. If you still trust me, you can trust me to make the right decision. One bad move and he's gone. Guaranteed."

Cole nodded. "Could you answer mine please?"

"I like him," I stated. "Plain and simple. Every time I talk to him I feel like I don't have to worry about anything. I can be as open to him as I want to be. He doesn't remind me that I'm slowly falling apart inside trying to let go of Peter."

Cole stood there in silence so I continued. "I don't expect you to approve of him, but I need you to at least accept how I feel."

"Okay," he said. "As much as I don't like Chad, I trust you. Just be careful."

I smiled weakly. "I will; thank you. I'll call you tonight."

Cole merely nodded before walking down the hallway. There was something more as to why he disapproved of Chad and I. I didn't know what, but I figured I could let him keep that to himself.

Dance rehearsal went on as it normally did. We started with some warm-up exercises, learned a couple of dance moves and rehearsed the next routine for the next showcase. I felt refreshed by the time rehearsal was over. It was nice to have a clear head on my shoulders for once. Once I finished putting on my regular clothes, I walked out of the locker room to be met with another face. It was my dance coach.

"Can I have a word with you, Danni?" Coach Montgomery asked.

"Sure, what's up?"

"Have you thought about college yet?"

"Not really," I admitted. "There were a lot of things going on last year."

"That's fine. I'm not trying to interrogate you," she reassured. "I was just looking over your grades and your test scores. They're pretty good. You should think about applying to NYU."

"I don't know. That seems a little bit out of reach especially with my budget."

Let's get one thing straight about paying for college: it was going to come out of my pocket. Sure, the Petrellis were more than capable for paying for it, but I didn't want their money. I barely got along with those people for crying out loud.

"You can easily get a scholarship," my coach suggested. "And with your talent, you're a shoe-in for that school and as many scholarships you can get your hands on."

"Thanks, but I'm going to have to think about it."

"No problem. Just let me know and I'll be happy to write your recommendation letter."

"I will. Thanks again."

Coach Montgomery always looked after me for some reason. I guess since Peter was in a coma, she realized I wasn't living the normal life like most kids. College was the last thing on my mind right now despite the fact that I would have to fill out applications soon. The future in general was a grey area for me.

I walked out in the front of the school heading towards the nearest bus stop when I encountered a black car. It wasn't the car that stopped me though. It was the man leaning on the car. My stupid drunk brother, Nathan.

I glared at him. "Car's not towed? Shame. I was hoping you would end up in the Hudson River by now—or better yet have that forest shaved off of your face."

"I'm sorry about what I said," he whispered. "I wasn't in my right mind."

"Exactly. You were drunk and stupid. I think once we can agree with that, we should be able to move on."

"I'm not here to argue with you, Danielle. We need to go deal with some business."

I almost cringed at his statement. I really didn't want to deal with more drama.

"What business?" I asked.

"Mom's in jail."

"Again? What did she do this time? Steal a sweater?"

"She's being interrogated," he informed. "For Kaito Nakamura's death."

"Nakamura? As in Hiro Nakamura?"

"I don't know the relation there, but we need to go pick her up."

"And why are you bringing me with you?"

"We're all she has left. I think it would be better if we both did it."

"Fine. Let's bust her out."

The car ride was awkwardly silent. I constantly listened to the radio to get my mind off of the drama we were walking into. Kaito had to have some sort of relation to Hiro. I no longer believed in coincidence. This had to be in fate's hands.

We walked into the police station and approached the front desk. Nathan was signing in when I heard a familiar voice call us.

I turned to see Matt Parkman marching up to us. "Mr. Petrelli. Danni."

"I know you," Nathan remarked.

"Detective Matt Parkman," he introduced. "We met in Texas when you came to lawyer your brother out of jail and to pull your sister out of the interrogation room."

"Ah, fun times," I smirked. "Hey, Matt."

"You know him too?" Nathan asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I met him in the interrogation room, duh. Plus I've been babysitting the kid he's been looking after."

So I wasn't exactly a hermit the long months you haven't heard from me. Cole convinced me to get a job during the summer so I did. Matt and Mohinder needed someone to watch the little girl they took in. Molly Walker was her name. She recently lost her parents to Sylar's hand and had the ability to find anyone in the world. I didn't know why, but I really liked her. She was an innocent soul forced to be in a dark world.

Matt faced Nathan and I. "Look, I'm sorry about Peter. Follow me, I'll show you to your mother."

"She's not gonna want to see me," Nathan said. "Look, we just came to get her out."

"Then why'd she ask us to call you?"

"She doesn't have anyone else."

The lights began to flicker until the electricity went out. I jumped when I heard a shrill scream echo throughout the room. This brought me back to the night of homecoming and Jackie's demise. It couldn't be Sylar. I saw a sword go right through his chest.

Matt ran in the direction of the scream as Nathan and I followed along.

"Where is she?" Nathan demanded.

We came to the door, but it appeared to be locked. Not even Matt's keys could open it.

"Mom!" Nathan cried.

"That's not possible," Matt said in panic.

Matt sprinted to the other room as Nathan and I continued to follow. Angela's screams were not only filled with fear but with pain as well. If we were going to save her, we had to do it fast. We came into a room with a tinted window. Matt glanced at the window and then towards us.

"Stand back," he cautioned.

Then with one swift movement, he grabbed a chair and banged it against the window. After a few hits, he was finally able to break the entire window. All of us jumped inside the interrogation room to find Angela on the ground and crying with many cuts on her face. Nathan immediately went to console her.

"It's gonna be all right, Mom," Nathan said to her. "It's gonna be okay."

The lights flickered back on. The storm was over.

"Who did this to you, Mrs. Petrelli?" Matt asked.

Angela didn't answer. Instead she handed Matt a small piece of paper. I looked over his shoulder to see that it was a photo of Angela with a helix drawn in blood over her face. The same helix I saw as a tattoo on my shoulder in a painting by Isaac Mendez. Once again, I do not believe in coincidences.

Despite the incident, the police still kept Angela in custody until further evidence that she didn't kill Kaito Nakamura. Whoever attacked Angela was the immediate suspect. But since the police don't know who or where the attacker is, my foster mother is still at fault. Great, just as I was trying to get my life back to together again Angela has an assassin after her.

When Nathan brought me back home, he decided to stay with me for a while—at least until Angela was out of jail. I guess the whole incident rattled him just as much as it did to me. It reminded me of the constant nightmares I had after Jackie's death. I said it before and I'll say it again: her death will forever be ingrained in my mind and haunt me for the rest of my life.

I called Cole the minute I came home. Thankfully he picked up. A part of me thought he wouldn't after our conversation. I needed to talk to someone about this and Cole was my only option at this point. I told him about Angela's attack and my suspicions.

"I hate to say this, Cole, but I think another Sylar may be on the loose," I said.

"I can't say I don't agree with you," he replied. "Okay so a common trend between all serial killers is that they're victims are all connected. For instance, Sylar. He killed those powers."

"But what's the connection between Angela and Kaito?"

"I'm not sure. Do you know if he's related to Hiro in anyway?"

"I don't know. I haven't looked it up yet."

"Hang on." I heard Cole typing on his computer in the background. "Danni, Kaito is Hiro's dad. Looks like he was a pretty good businessman too…"

"That still doesn't explain how Angela is connected to him."

"I know, but if you think about it how much do you really know about the woman who provides a roof over your head?"

I bit my lip. "Got a point there. I didn't know she knew my family until months ago."

"I guess we're just going to have to look into it. That's if you're up to it."

"I don't even have a choice. If we try to ignore it, I have a strong feeling that something's going to get blown up."

"Agreed."

I looked over at the clock to see that it was twenty minutes to seven. Seven…Chad! I completely forgot about my date amongst the situation that happened.

"Sorry, I have to get going," I said. "We'll talk about this tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

I hung up the phone and frantically sprinted to my closet.

After I put on something presentable and grabbed my purse, I stumbled down the stairs. As I was about to grab my jacket, I heard Nathan's voice speak behind me.

"Where are you heading off to?" he asked.

"I'm just going to hang out with a friend," I said quickly.

I was still debating as to whether or not to tell my foster family about my recent relationship. For now, I felt it was too early to tell so I decided to go with half-truths.

"Which friend?" he pressed.

I turned to him. "He's a new friend. Why do you care?"

"Our mom just got attacked and you're asking me why I'm questioning your whereabouts?"

"She's your mom, remember?" I smirked. "You were the one that said I'm not a true Petrelli, so why should even try to pretend?"

"I was drunk and I was angry. I said things I should have never said that day. I'm sorry."

"Saying sorry doesn't exactly fix things, Nathan. Once you can figure that out, everything should be smooth sailing for you."

Nathan opened his mouth to speak, but the doorbell rang.

"I'll be home by ten," I told him before I went to answer the door.

I opened the door and smiled towards Chad. "Hey."

He returned the smile. "Hey, are you ready to go?"

I nodded. "Let's do this."

I closed the door behind me without a glance towards my troubled brother.

Chad drove us into the city and parked his car by Central Park. From there we walked to the nearest hot dog stand. I tried to stay as natural as I possibly could. Confession time, this was my first date. Don't get me wrong I've liked boys before, but by now I'm pretty sure you've figured out that I'm not a people person.

"So what's the plan?" I asked him. "Hot dogs and then what?"

"You'll see."

"Isn't a little too early in the date to be mysterious?"

"Trust me, you'll like this surprise."

I put my suspicions to rest for a few moments. Surprise was such an ambiguous word. I didn't know whether I would happy about it or just plain surprised, but I would probably have my mouth hanging either way. Once we got our hot dogs, he led me through the city. He tried to distract me by popping up a civil conversation, but I was more curious about where he was taking me than the latest Harry Potter book.

I began to grow a little be concerned when he was taking us into an abandoned alleyway. I cautiously followed behind him.

"Does this surprise involve rats and week old garbage?" I questioned.

Chad chuckled. "No, but truth be told, I can't afford a movie tonight."

"So where are we going then?"

"We're nearly there, trust me."

Chad pulled out a key and inserted it into the lock of a nearby door. He opened the door and gestured me towards it.

"Ladies first," he said.

I paused. "Are you sure we're allowed to be here?"

"I didn't take you for a girl who followed the rules."

"It's not that. It's the dark setting and the fact that no one can hear me scream."

"You have trust issues don't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"You're hesitant every time you speak and pretty much question everything. Not that it's a bad thing. It's just an observation."

"Yes," I said. "I do have trust issues. Now how do I know that I can trust you?"

"Well, if I do anything stupid you have permission to beat the living hell out of me." Chad waved me over. "C'mon."

I figured that if he was going to try anything, he probably would have by now so I stepped inside. But I still kept my guard up. Just because he didn't have any superpowers didn't meant that he couldn't hurt me. I walked into what seemed to be a short hallway. I found myself following the hallway into a backstage area.

"What is this place?" I asked.

Chad appeared beside me. "Manhattan Community Center Theatre. My parents used to take me here all of the time. But that's not what I wanted to show you."

Chad took my hand and led me towards an empty doorway. Through the doorway I saw a brightly lit stage with a blanket and a picnic basket in the middle.

"Wow," I said. "Is that for us?"

"Yeah, I set it up before I went to pick you up."

"You set this up?"

"Didn't I just say that?"

"Okay, are you some bad boy ripped out of a romance novel or something?" I shook my head. "I mean this stuff just doesn't happen. There's gotta be some ulterior motive to this whole scheme."

"The only motive I have is getting to know you," he stated. "Who you are, who you want to be, everything and more."

"Why? What's so interesting about me?" I questioned once again. Hopefully he would give me a straight answer this time.

And he did. "Because I like you. Is that so hard to understand?"

"Yes—no—I don't know. I've never felt this way about anyone before and it kind of scares me."

"Just wait until the end of the night. I promise you won't be scared."

I nodded. "We'll see."

Chad was partly right. I started to feel more confident that Chad wasn't the guy Cole said he was. Maybe he just put on that persona so that he wouldn't have to get hurt with the relationships he made. In a lot of ways that's why I put on my "emo" phase—and I'm only calling it emo because everyone else seems to. I still found it easy to talk to him about the simpler things in life such as school or the latest scandal in Hollywood. He spoke about his funny childhood memories as I shared my constant pranks on Dylan in middle school.

"This is like a dream to you, isn't it?" Chad suddenly asked.

Instead of questioning it, I just answered the question. "Yeah. I've been through a lot in the past few months. It's nice just to get away."

"Sounds like it was bad especially coming from that complicated story you told me last night."

"It wasn't bad at first," I admitted. "I was confused and scared when it happened. I tried to ignore it, but it just kept coming back. Long story short, it got my brother killed."

"What happened to your brother?"

"He died in a fire. We could have stopped it, but we were too late."

"You don't have to blame yourself," he said. "Guilt isn't exactly a look that suits you."

"I'm not blaming myself anymore. I just I want to move on. But with my other brother drinking away his sorrows and my foster mom glooming around the house, it's kind of hard to forget what happened."

I looked over to Chad who stared at me blankly. "Great, leave it to me to ruin the moment with my sob story."

He shook his head. "No, it's okay. Sometimes we just need a few moments let go."

"So, why did you choose to take me here?" I quickly changed the subject. Talking about Peter for too long still brought tears to my eyes.

"As I said before my parents took me here all of the time and every time I come in here I feel like I can be myself. I wanted you to see that side at least."

"I see."

"So what do you think of me? I mean I've told you how I feel. I'm curious as to what you're feeling."

"Well, you're still extremely cocky. But you've got a heart. I can see that much." I sighed. "You're easy to talk to. I can't stop thinking about you to the point where I find it obnoxious and…I like you too."

Chad moved closer to me. "So what now?"

"I don't know. The hard part is over with, but I'm not exactly sure what to do next."

"Well, let me start out by saying that I would like to do this again and I can help you out with that next part."

I groaned. "You did not just say that."

"What?" He looked at me surprised.

"The last part you just said. That was cliché and cheesy beyond belief."

"So you want to be original?"

"That would be nice and don't be so arrogant about it. Besides the whole cliché thing doesn't look good on you—"

No more words came out. Chad's lips had collided with mine before I could understand the whole situation. I sat there, unsure of what to do at first. Then as if it was second instinct, I found myself falling into sync with his lips. I didn't know how to explain it. The whole feeling was exhilarating. My heart was beating a million miles an hour and more. Not to mention the butterflies soaring in my stomach.

Chad lifted his lips away from mine. "So how was that?"

"Perfect," I breathed.

This time I found myself kissing him first. He immediately followed along and deepened the kiss. For the first time in months, I felt at peace. There was no drama attached or a serial killer to come back at me because of this.

For once, this felt right.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! There's a poll on my profile if anyone wants to vote on it. I just want a general idea on who would want a role-playing Twitter account for Danni and if not, oh well. Follow me on Twitter as well if you want updates :)<p>

~Emyrox567


	26. Move Along

Move Along

You know that feeling you get when you've just awakened from a dream? Well, that's what I was experiencing. Only this wasn't just a dream—it actually happened. I kissed Chad and he kissed me.

I hardly remember what happened the next morning. The events of the night before kept playing through my mind as if nothing else mattered. After Chad took me home, I couldn't get him out of my head. I hardly spared Nathan the time to demand where I was. I guess I was a little too smiley for Nathan's liking. I tried to play it off as something funny happening, but he wouldn't have any of it. Long story short, he got worried about me and he became my ride to school.

The car ride itself was extremely awkward. I was still mad about the things he said to me and he was trying to pretend it never happened. Glad to see some part of the old Nathan is still alive. Thankfully for his sake, he didn't try to talk to me. I hailed the school grounds when the car ride ended. It was safe to say that it was my official getaway from life in general.

I found Chad in the seat next to mine when I came into class. The surge of confidence I felt after last night suddenly disappeared. I wasn't sure how to face him after last night. Not that it was bad. I just didn't know what to say. "Hey, we lip locked last night, I think we should talk about it," could probably be an option but it probably wouldn't go well as an opening statement.

I put on the best smile I could and greeted him. "Hey, Chad. How's your morning?"

"Tiring, I guess." He shrugged. "What about yours?"

"I really don't know. It's been kind of a blur to tell you the truth."

"Sorry about that. Maybe a little coffee will help."

Boys. It didn't matter how old they were or how smart they were, they could never catch on context clues.

I decided to use the direct approach in that case. "Look, after last night, I think we need to talk."

"Talk about what exactly?"

"Well, let's put it this way: you kissed me, I kissed back and I wake up with a clouded head of confusion as to where we are relationship wise."

"I see," Chad sighed. "But the real question is: how do you feel?"

"You already know how I feel."

"And you already know how I feel. Now do you want to continue the way we are or abandon all hope? Personally, I would like to keep seeing you."

The decision seemed pretty clear to me. Whenever I was with Chad I forgot what I was or all of the pain I had to go through the past few months. Granted, he did seem a little cocky but that was something he couldn't help. Cole suddenly came into my mind. He barely accepted the idea of seeing Chad, now I was about to date the person he despised. Then Ava's words echoed in my head. "You need to do something for yourself for once," she said to me. Cole was my friend. He would have to understand that Chad made me happy whether he liked it or not…right?

It was too late for second thoughts though. I made up my mind. "I'd like to keep seeing you too."

Chad took my hand. "Awesome."

I tried to hold back a smile but failed miserably. I was still in shock that I was in first relationship. I only hoped that Cole could understand. The first half of the day was almost a blur. Chad walked me to my classes (which I found weird and sweet at the same time) and invited me to eat lunch with him. I accepted, but told him that I would meet him later so that I could spend some time with my friends.

The minute the lunch bell rang, I found Cole at my side.

"Where were you this morning?" he asked me immediately. "I waited for you but you didn't come out."

"Nathan dragged me to school this morning," I explained. "I guess he's still worried about the person who attacked Angela."

"I was worried about that the minute you didn't come out of your house. I had to call Ava to make sure you were at school."

"Speaking of, did you find anything on Angela or Kaito?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. It's like they never knew each other."

"Yet they still blame Angela for the murder."

"Because there's no one else to blame."

"Look, whoever is out there killing all of these people, they have a motive. The problem is trying to figure out what the motive is."

"Yeah, that's going to be a pain. Do you want to come over tonight and Google it?"

I crossed my arms. "We can't. We have a babysitting job, remember?"

"Right. So I'll just bring my laptop over and when Molly is asleep, we'll start searching."

"Sounds like plan."

"Danielle Petrelli, did you really think you could skip out on me?" a demanding voice marched up behind me.

I turned to see Ava tapping her foot. "Skip out on what?"

"You're not serious are you?" she gave me an incredulous look. "You go out on a date with Chad last night and don't even spare a phone call as to what happened."

"Sorry, I got a little side tracked."

"So? What happened?"

I noticed Cole's ears perk up before I began. I didn't mind though. Cole deserved to know as much as Ava did—probably more. "Well, Chad took me into the city and we hung out in the community theatre he went into as a kid. We talked and then…he kissed me and I kissed back."

Cole was silent as Ava almost squealed.

"I knew it," she smiled. "I'm so happy for you, Danni."

"You kissed him?" Cole asked in a low voice. "You've barely met the guy, Danni. Why would you do that?"

"I like him," I stated. "I'm sorry if you have a hard time understanding that, but that's just the way it is."

"The way it is? Don't you hear yourself?"

"Look, for months I've trying to put my life back together and right now, Chad is going to be a big part of that. Why can't you be happy that I feel normal again?"

"Wait," said Ava. "Is Cole the person you were talking about that didn't accept you and Chad?"

I didn't answer her. "If you think I'm trying to push you away, I'm not. I still want you in my life."

Cole gave a heavy sigh. "You don't need to recite a speech, Danni. I said I would accept your decision to spend your time with Chad. You're my best friend and I trust you."

"Thank you," I said gratefully. "I'll make it up to you tonight. Cheese puffs and _X-Men_, your favorite movie."

He gave a weak smile. "Add in some popcorn and we've got a deal. I've got to get going. Drama club is having a lunch meeting."

"Okay, I'll see you after school."

Cole walked away while Ava stood there with an eye brow raised. "Why didn't tell me that it was Cole who disapproved?"

"I didn't want to point out names," I said.

"But it makes sense now considering you don't have that many friends."

"Gee, thanks."

"I'm just stating the truth here. Anyway, are you sure Cole's going to be okay?"

"I'm sure. I mean why wouldn't he?"

She shrugged. "Just intuition. So do you want to hang out for lunch?"

"I would, but I promised Chad I would meet him."

"Okay, cool. I'll see you later then."

Thankfully I was able to catch a ride with Cole before Nathan had the chance to drive up after school. It was strange though. Cole acted like our small argument never happened. We chatted about how our day went and the strange things we saw that day, but he acted like he wasn't bothered with what happened with me and Chad. Not that I was complaining or anything—I just found it strange.

Before we went to Brooklyn to our babysitting job, I had Cole make a few stops to fulfill my promise to him. We stopped by the nearby drug store for the food and a DVD rental store for the _X-Men_ movie he wanted to watch. From there we headed to Brooklyn where Matt Parkman and Mohinder Suresh lived with their adopted daughter, Molly Walker. As I said before, I liked Molly. She was the sweetest little girl anyone could meet and yet very mature for her age. But I guess that came with being special. She had the ability to find anyone in the world as long as you gave her a picture and a map. I found that a lot more impressive than air manipulation by far.

We arrived at the apartment with a couple minutes to spare. At the moment Mohinder was off doing business somewhere while Matt was here on his own to take care of Molly. So Cole and I came in whenever he had to work late nights at the station. I was the first to knock on the door.

"Do you think Molly will like to watch _X-Men_?" I asked Cole.

"It's _X-Men_," he stated as if it was obvious. "Even you like _X-Men_."

"Point taken."

The door swung open to reveal Matt in his detective uniform. "Hey guys, thanks for coming."

Matt moved to the side allowing us inside the apartment.

"Well, you did call," I said as we entered the apartment. "Plus I could use the cash."

Matt gestured to the shopping bags we were holding. "So what do you have in there?"

"Cheese puffs, popcorn, _X-Men_ DVD and…Chocolate-Covered Donettes?" I eyed Cole suspiciously.

"What?" Cole said innocently. "I couldn't resist and I thought since you were buying that I would just sneak it in there."

"You're lucky I like you."

Matt laughed at us. "Just make sure Molly eats her dinner before she gets her hands on any of that. I ordered pizza so it should be here soon."

"Awesome."

"Danni! Cole!"

Before I could look, I found Molly with her arms wrapped around me. She was a small thin girl with long brown hair and light brown eyes.

"Hey, Molly," I greeted. "How are you?"

"Good," she answered separating from me. "School's boring though."

"Agreed."

"All right, so I'm going to head off now," Matt said. "Molly, listen to Danni and Cole, do your homework and eat your dinner before you even look at those Donettes."

Molly's eyes lit up. "Donettes?"

I pointed to Cole. "It was his idea. I just thought of the cheese puffs."

"Like I said, finish your dinner," Matt repeated.

"We're having pizza for dinner again, aren't we?" she crossed her arms. "I can't wait until Mohinder comes back. He makes the best Indian food."

He smiled in amusement. "Hey, I'm trying. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

Molly pulled Matt into a hug. "Goodnight."

"Night."

When Matt pulled away from Molly, he looked to me. "Can I talk to you for a minute? There's a new security system I need to go over with you."

I nodded. "Sure."

I set the shopping bags and my backpack on the table and followed Matt to the door.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Have you talked to your mother since yesterday?" he whispered.

"No. Nathan told me that she was relocated to the hospital but that's about it. And considering she barely says a word to me, I'm not a very reliable alibi."

"Sorry, I was just curious. Anyway, lately Molly's been having nightmares so when she screams in her sleep, could you stay with her?"

"Of course, but what is she having nightmares about?"

"She won't tell me."

"Do you want me to ask her about it?"

"No," Matt said. "I already got on her case about it. She's not talking."

"Okay, I'll see what I can do about it. Have fun at work."

"I'll try. I'll see you when I get back."

I gave a final wave to Matt before he walked down the hallway. I was shocked at Matt's news. Molly was more than cheery when she saw me a few moments ago. I wanted to talk to her about it, but Matt was right. If she wanted to talk about it, she would. I never talked about my nightmares about Sylar and I was fine. For now we were left to wonder what was haunting her piece of mind.

Once the pizza arrived, Cole plugged in his laptop and we put in the movie as we munched on all the junk food.

"Do you think we're like the X-Men?" Molly suddenly asked.

"I don't know," I said. "I think if you add in the super cool mansion, we would be just like them."

"And if Claire was a little more harrier," Cole added.

I laughed at the statement. "I am going to tell her you said that."

"And if Matt shaved his head, he would be like Professor X," Molly smiled.

All of us laughed at the idea. I could only imagine Matt's reaction if he heard Molly.

"C'mon guys, we sound like nerds," I said.

"And what's so bad about that?" Cole questioned.

"Well, all you talk about is comic books and Sci-Fi and fantasy stuff to the point where you become obsessed with it."

"Hey, at least I'm not Sci-Fi itself, honey."

"At least I don't play with dolls to reenact a scene from the latest comic book."

"They're action figures," he corrected. "And I stopped doing that a long time ago."

"A week ago?"

"Maybe."

Molly giggled. "You guys act like you're married. Are guys dating or something?"

"No," I answered. "We're just friends."

"Yep, friends," Cole mumbled.

"Oh, sorry I asked," Molly said, embarrassed.

"It's okay, you didn't know," I reassured.

Once again, I noticed Cole's annoyance—but it was different this time. It was the common misconception people made about our relationship and for years we agreed that we were only friends, but his response to Molly seemed to be bothered. I wasn't sure if I should be worried or not about this. I mean you know Cole, right? He's generally a happy and caring person—not this grumpy teenage boy. If this didn't go away in a few days or so, I was going to talk to Cole for sure.

After the movie ended, it was well after Molly's bedtime. When I even mentioned it, she cringed at the word. Matt was right about the nightmares. Despite her reaction though, Molly listened to me and followed me to her room. Once she was ready for bed, I tucked her in under the covers.

"You know for not being a mom, you're pretty good at this," Molly commented.

"Thanks, I learned from my mom. 'Keep 'em warm but don't bury them' she would say."

"How long are you staying?"

"Until Matt gets home. Why?"

"I was just curious," she said quickly.

"Have you been getting enough sleep lately?" I asked.

"Yeah, why would you ask that?"

"I can see the bags under your eyes. Usually that's a common trait among high school students."

"I'm fine. I'm just having trouble sleeping."

I sighed. Molly wasn't going to talk to me either about it. "Okay. You know if you're having trouble with anything, you can come to me, Matt, or Mohinder, right?"

She nodded. "I know."

"Good. I'll see you next week then. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Danni."

I turned off the light and closed the door behind me. I wanted to give Molly her space yet I didn't want her to suffer. She was like me in a lot of ways. She lost her parents young and now she has to figure out how to go through the world without them along with handling her ability. Molly was smart though. She was going to get through this with or without my help.

I walked back over to Cole who was looking intently into his computer screen.

"So what's the first thing you Google'd?" I took the seat next to him.

"Angela," he replied. "Maybe something in her back story will connect her to Kaito Nakamura."

"That's if you can find any. If you're a woman like Angela, you generally make sure your information doesn't get out on the Internet."

"What kind of woman is she?"

"I can't really say because Molly is in the next room but she has a strong resemblance to Mrs. Addams."

"Maybe I should direct it back to Kaito."

"Should we even be doing this?" I questioned. "I know this is relatively important and people are dying, but is it really our job to do it?"

"Well, who else is gonna do it?"

"Matt is on this case, Cole. Not to mention he can get to more information than we can."

Cole's eyes lit up. "Do you think Nathan knows anything about Angela?"

"Are you seriously asking me that?" I looked at him doubtfully. "Nathan isn't exactly on anyone's good side including the witch herself so I don't think he'll be able to get anything out of her."

"But there has to be something around your house—like files or pictures."

"The place already gives me the creeps on a daily basis. Do you think I want to look through office drawers?"

"Okay, why do I feel like you don't want to do this?"

"I don't know," I said. "It's just the whole idea of moving on. I mean I feel like we're back in the school library doing research on exploding men."

"You want to be normal."

"I do. Normal means peace, no drama and most of all no powers."

"Normal is a very vague word," he stated. "Not to mention it's utterly boring."

"Says the guy who fawns over comic books."

"And the wish of wanting to be a boring normal human being is coming from the girl who can fly which is a dream many children only dream of."

"I know, but power comes with responsibility. All of the sudden I'm supposed to be there when the world is in danger when I'm just trying to put the pieces together in my life."

Cole placed a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, you're not alone. I'm stuck in this with you too."

"No offense, but you're the boring normal human being here. You can walk away anytime you want."

"That's the thing. I can't. As long as you're in this situation, so am I."

Cole looked at me with reassurance in his eyes. Somehow I could see longing in them as well. We sat there in silence as if we didn't need any more words to finish the conversation.

But I needed to say one more thing, "Thank you."

He gave a small smile. "You're welcome."

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! The drama is only going to get messier from here people, but I promise it will get better. On another note, I created a role playing Twitter account for Danni so if anyone wants to follow her quirks, feel free. Don't have a Twitter? There's a Facebook fanpage connected to the Twitter account so you're not missing anything. The links are on my profile page for anyone interested.<p>

~Emyrox567


	27. Life As We Know It

Life As We Know It

You know that search for Angela's attacker that Cole and I decided to do? Well, four weeks later, we were still running into dead ends. At least with the bomb, we could narrow it down to a few possible suspects. Unfortunately that wasn't the case this time. Knowing Angela she probably had a list of people who were out to get her. Now that I think about it, I just might end up on that list soon…

Anyway, nothing had really changed. Angela was still in jail—or temporarily in the hospital and Nathan had taken residence in the Petrelli Mansion. He seemed a little more sober nowadays, but I did see the occasional bottle of beer on the counter in the morning and empty in his hand by the time I got home. It was hard to tell what improvement meant for that man. I still kept in touch with Claire though, but I kept Nathan's alcoholism and Angela's current situation a secret. Claire was already having a hard time adjusting to California. She didn't need another set of problems on her plate. I already decided that I would deal with it on my own to the best of my ability.

Back to the current time frame, Cole and I met in the library to research as much as we could before I had to go to dance rehearsals. As it happened every day, there was still nothing to go off on. It was like the connection between Angela and Kaito was a complete coincidence.

"Have you found anything yet?" Cole asked.

"No," I said. "Unless you want a rundown of Kaito Nakamura's corporate family tree, I haven't found anything."

"Yeah, I can't find anything on Angela either. Do you know what her maiden name was?"

"No. She could have been the bride of Frankenstein for all we know."

"Call this an observation, but I have a feeling Angela made sure you knew as little as possible about her when something like this came up."

"Really I would have never guessed through her silent treatments to me as a child and not saying a word about any connections to my family," I said sarcastically. "Sorry, this whole thing is just leading to dead ends and I'm getting kind of frustrated about it."

"Me too. Look, the way I see it now is that the only source that's reliable is Angela."

I knew he was right. I just didn't want that to be our only option.

"She knows what attacked her," he continued. "And she obviously knows Kaito Nakamura just like she knew your family considering Hiro is special. And if you haven't noticed, a lot of people that she knows are special."

"She won't tell us anything," I stated. "I'll already know her. She'll either lie or avoid it all together."

"It doesn't hurt to try."

I opened my mouth to respond, but stopped when I heard a familiar voice approaching us.

"Hey, Danni."

I turned to see Chad beaming down at me. "Hey, Chad."

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah." I looked to Cole. "Can you work on the project from here?"

He nodded. "I'll let you know if something new comes up."

"Thanks, I'll see you later."

I got up from my seat and headed for the door, but Chad stayed behind. I turned around to see Chad facing Cole. I stood a certain distance away so that I could hear their conversation, but pretended to be looking through my phone.

"So are you going to the audition tomorrow, Cole?" he asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Cole raised an eyebrow. "I've be doing theatre since elementary school."

"I know. I just thought that since this is our senior year that you would be more focused on college applications than working in a production."

"I've been working on college apps since last summer. Why are you asking me this all of the sudden?"

"You seem like a very busy person. Every time I see you nowadays you have your head in a computer screen."

"Why are you even talking me?" he questioned. "We may have been in the same musical theatre program since middle school, but we've barely spoken a word to each other."

I wasn't sure how I was hearing this conversation so clearly, but I went with it nonetheless. It was probably another part of my power I had yet to explore.

"You're Danni's best friend," Chad answered. "When she's not with me, she's with you. Excuse me for trying to get to know her friends."

"I know you," he sneered. "I've seen you date girls, Chad. You think I don't notice how you flattered girls with your charm and looks? Well, I know the other part of it too. Once you're tired of them, you drop them like a fly. Now, if you ever do anything to hurt Danni in any way, I will make sure you get a taste of that pain."

"Oh Bowman, don't make any promises you can't keep," Chad replied, unfazed by Cole's threat. "But you look out for her, that's good. I'm glad we had this chat. Hopefully I can get to know you a little better."

"Wish I could say the same," he grumbled.

Chad walked away from Cole. I stood there frozen trying to take in the conversation. Cole was clearly against me dating Chad still. This unsettling thought continued to plague my mind since Chad and I became a couple. Cole was my friend, but I cared about Chad as well.

"Ready?" Chad put an arm around my shoulder.

I nodded. "Yeah."

Why did something that felt so right had to have a bitter after taste?

Chad and I walked to dance rehearsals. He was nice enough to sit off to the side as Dylan and I led rehearsals. Just like Cole did. It was then I realized that Cole never stepped into the dance studio since the year began. I waved it off. It was only September and a few weeks into the year—nothing to worry about. At the end of rehearsals, I went to talk to my coach.

Remember that offer my coach made me about NYU? I thought about it and I decided that it wouldn't hurt to apply. Besides it was the only real college I thought about since the year began. I was still at a loss as to what I wanted to do in life, but dance seemed to be the right direction to go for me. Actually, it was the only thing that felt right in my life.

"Coach Montgomery," I approached her. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

She nodded. "What's up?"

"I thought about NYU and I want to apply to their dance program. I would really appreciate it if you could write a letter of recommendation for me."

"Of course! Just know that filling out the application is just the beginning. You'll need to come to auditions and be interviewed."

"I know. I'll be ready."

"Great, give me a few weeks or so and I'll have your letter of rec ready."

"Perfect, thank you."

With one last nod, she walked out of the theatre. I went over to grab my things when I heard Chad's voice echo behind me.

"NYU, huh?" he said.

I turned to him. "Yeah, it's worth a shot. Where are you thinking of applying to?"

"UCLA or Julliard. I'll even throw in a couple of small colleges in case I don't get in."

"Are you planning to major in drama?"

"That's the plan though my dad might make me get bachelors in business too."

"I see. Well, let's see how merciful they'll be on me during my auditions."

"Don't even worry about that," he reassured. "With your moves, they'll be begging you to come."

I blushed. "I don't know about that. The least I can do is try to look like I can dance in front of them."

"Okay." Chad dropped his bag to the ground. "Show me a couple of moves."

"What?"

"Teach me a couple things. They say that if you can teach it, you know it."

"But I'm a horrible teacher in general. Not to mention I hardly have any patience."

"Just give it a shot."

I shrugged. It couldn't hurt to try. "All right. We'll start with hip-hop since that seems to be your medium."

I started off by showing him a few simple moves and when I thought he was ready, we put it all together with music. He was a pretty fast learner, I had to admit. Then I decided to teach him a whole routine since he caught on so quickly. Soon we were simply dancing to any song that came up on my iPod—formal or informal. I really didn't care at this point. All I was concerned about was keeping up with the beat and being with Chad. Once again, he made me forget everything I was dealing with at home.

I gasped in surprise when I felt Chad's arm wrap around my waist. He pulled me into a partner dance as a slow song came up.

"I figured we could use a break from all of this high energy dancing we've been doing," he remarked.

I smirked. "Aw, is the newbie getting tired?"

"Okay, I thought it would be a little romantic if I just pulled you into a dance."

"And you were getting tired."

"It's a lot of work to move around like that," he admitted. "I dread whenever I have to rehearse choreography for a musical."

I laughed. "It's okay. A lot of people struggle with that when they first start out."

"I've learned a whole routine and how to improv in dance. Still don't think you can get into NYU?"

"I feel better about it. Is that an answer you take?"

"It'll have to do." Chad spun me around and pulled me in closer. "I like this."

"Me too." I sighed. "I really hate to ruin this moment, but I need to know. What was going on between you and Cole earlier?"

"Cole basically gave me the big brother act. Nothing to worry about."

"Right…Cole told me about heart-breaker history. How do I know you're not going to do that to me?"

"My relationships in the past are in the past. I've grown up from them and found someone I really think is amazing. She just happens to be in my arms right now."

I smiled. "You have to stop doing that."

"What?"

"Making feel like I'm a good person because I'm not."

"I think you are."

Chad leaned in and lightly pressed his lips to mine.

"Thank you," I breathed.

I kissed him back, deepening the kiss. He wrapped his arms around me as if he was afraid to let me go. I was completely hypnotized in the moment until heard a voice cough. I turned my head towards the cough to find Nathan standing awkwardly in the auditorium.

I retreated away from Chad. "Oh God."

Since I started to date Chad, I haven't exactly told Nathan. He and Angela were just about the only people who didn't know. I didn't know how long Nathan stood there, but the situation was awkward for all of us.

"Sorry to interrupt," Nathan said slowly. "We need to go meet mom at the hospital."

"Fine." I gathered my things and quickly walked off of the stage. "I'll call you later, Chad."

"Talk to you then," Chad said from behind me.

I changed back into my regular clothes before Nathan and I drove to the hospital. Surprisingly, he hadn't said a word about the scene he just caught. His opinion didn't matter to me, but I was curious and the silence was killing me.

"So…" Nathan began. "Who was that?"

"Boyfriend," I said simply.

"Chad, right?"

"Yep."

"Sounds like a surfer."

"He's an actor actually."

"When did this happen?" he questioned.

"Why do you care?" I cornered.

"Just curious. I always thought it would be you and Cole."

"Cole has a problem with it too."

"Really?" Nathan didn't look surprised. "Are you two still talking?"

"Yeah. He said he would at least accept it."

"I see."

Silence again. I couldn't stand this type of silence. I couldn't tell if he was embarrassed or ashamed that I didn't tell him beforehand. I tried to think of anything to talk about. School was too boring to even think about and Nathan didn't care for dancing. It was then I noticed the messy beard that was usually on his face was now gone.

"So you finally shaved that forest off of your face," I commented. "It looks nice."

"I saw Monty and Simon today. They didn't like it so I thought it would be time for a change."

"Wait, you saw your sons? Didn't Heidi ban you from seeing your children?"

"I talked to them through the bars of their school gates."

"I see."

"So what exactly were you doing with Chad in there?"

I glared at him. "This conversation is officially over."

Thankfully by that time we arrived at the hospital. I didn't get the chance to ask why we were visiting her so suddenly, but I knew I would find out anyway. Besides Nathan only brought me to places because it was important anyway. It must have been something bad because I found myself trying to keep up with a storming Nathan.

I spotted Matt not too far from where we were walking. Then I realized why we were here. Angela had not yet escaped from the law.

"What do you think you're doing questioning a suspect in the hospital?" Nathan demanded from Matt. "Any confession is coerced. She's sick."

"Coerced or not, they believe her," Matt replied. "But I know she's innocent."

"How?"

Matt looked around the room before leading us to a private part of the hallway. Of course I already knew about Matt's ability. I've known since he questioned me the morning after homecoming.

He sighed and said in a low voice, "The same way I know you can fly. I can read your mind. Just like I read your mother's. But I can't tell my partner what I know or how I know it."

"Are you reading my mind now?" Nathan asked calmly.

"No." Matt paused. "Yes. Sorry."

"I'm telling you," I hissed. "Mind reading is the most annoying power I've encountered so far. Invasion of privacy and not to mention it's cheating."

"You knew about this?" Nathan was taken aback.

"I'm babysitting his kid and he was there on Kirby Plaza. You tend to say a few things."

"Look," Matt continued. "Your mother thinks she's protecting somebody by shutting down this investigation. But I'm not gonna let it happen. I'm not backing down. I got a little girl at home who wakes up in the middle of the night screaming about nightmares and drawing a symbol that…" He pulled out plastic bags with torn pictures inside of them. "This. The same symbol that's on these photos."

I looked over Nathan's shoulder to see the same picture of Angela with the blood-drawn helix over it and one of Kaito with the same symbol. The same symbol I saw in the painting of my future ego. Also the fact that Molly was drawing these symbols herself was disturbing. I was about ready to call a psychiatrist for her.

"I know this symbol," Nathan muttered.

"I think it's all connected," Matt whispered to us. "Everything. What you, Danni and I can do? We're all connected."

"I know this photograph."

My ears perked at that. Maybe the investigation wasn't hopeless after all.

"Good," said Matt. "Because I need your help. I can't continue this investigation without you."

"All right. I'll…" Nathan hesitated. "We need five minutes alone with our mother. Alone."

Nathan didn't wait for answer from Matt. He placed his hand behind my back and guided me to Angela's hospital room. Hopefully Nathan could get through to her about her suicidal plan. As much as I didn't like the woman I didn't want to see an innocent going to jail.

We found Angela up from her bed and putting on her black overcoat.

"Why are you confessing to a crime you didn't commit?" Nathan asked.

Angela turned to us, frightened. "Because you were right, Nathan. I don't deserve to be saved."

"Mom, I was angry when I said that. I was drunk. I didn't mean it."

The same words he said to make up for his drunken slurs to me. Glad to see those words are recyclable.

"Of course you did," said Angela.

"You asked me for help once. Now just let me help you."

"Just because you shaved doesn't mean you're clean and sober. You still have to get yourself into a program. Get your family back. Don't let your children hate you. Not if you can help it."

"Why are you talking like that?" I asked her. "You're innocent. You should fight instead of surrender because it's easier."

"I'm not a fighter like you," she smiled weakly. "Go on with your life. Don't worry about me. You'll be able to get past this."

"You didn't kill Kaito Nakamura," Nathan pressed. "I know that—we know that."

"I have done so many bad things in my life. It really doesn't matter what crime I confess to."

"Let me help you, Mom."

"No. What you want is redemption. And you're not gonna get it by helping me. You'll just get killed. And I can't bear to lose another son."

They pulled into a tearful embrace as I watched on. Whoever Angela was really covering for, she was afraid of them. Cole was right on his part. Angela knew more about the recent murders than she'd like to lead on.

I caught a glimpse of Matt walking in with another man.

"He has to do this. I'm sorry," Matt said to them.

"That's all right," Angela nodded as she walked to her wheelchair. "I'm ready."

I watched helplessly as the man handcuffed her hands. I didn't know how to feel about this. I wasn't expecting this to be the last time I'd ever see Angela again. I always imagined running away or moving out to college. Not this.

Matt pushed her wheelchair out of the room with the man without another word to us. I looked to Nathan who was staring off into space. Whatever he was feeling was something I could never understand. But it must have been similar to losing your mother to death, right?

I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "C'mon. We should get going."

Nathan only nodded as he shoved off my hand.

I expected to at least get the chance to relax from all of this when I got home, but I was clearly wrong. I found Matt standing on my doorstep, ready to look into the truth of this mystery. I would have invited Cole to this but that would mean telling Nathan about the research I've been doing for the past few weeks.

Nathan took us to Arthur's old office and handed us a couple of boxes. The goal at this point was to look for the full picture the victims' picture was torn from. I already knew this search was going to be painful the minute Nathan handed me a box. Piles of pictures to look carefully at, but no entries to put into search boxes. _Where's technology when you need it?_

"The photo's gotta be in here somewhere," Nathan said. "It's a group shot. Maybe ten—thirteen people."

"What kind of group is it?" Matt asked.

"It was a party or a meeting. My parents were in it. Kaito Nakamura."

"You knew Nakamura?"

I looked up from my box. "Well this outta be interesting."

"No. My folks did," Nathan corrected. "He used to come over to the house sometimes. My father didn't seem to care for him too much. I remember the last time I saw him, my Mom hugged him and it lasted just a little bit too long."

That was more information than I needed to know. I couldn't imagine a woman like Angela being in any intimate relationship.

"What about the others in the group?" Matt asked, curious.

"Linderman was in it. Charles Deveaux, too. A lot of them are dead now."

Matt held up a picture. "These your boys?"

"Yeah." Nathan returned his attention to looking for the picture.

"What? You don't see them that often?"

"Look, I don't…I'm sorry, I don't really know you that well."

"My wife…my ex-wife cheated on me. Which I could have forgiven her for, except for the fact that she was pregnant with his baby."

Nathan eyed him suspiciously. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

"I just…I know a bunch of stuff about you, I figured it's only fair."

"If you wanna unload, go ahead."

"A year ago, I was a cop in LA. Married. Expecting a child. And all of the sudden this stuff starting happening. It just turned everything upside down. I'm just looking for answers."

I huffed. "Tell me about it."

"Maybe this will help," Nathan held up a picture.

It must have been the one we were looking for. I got up from my seat to see what its importance was. It was a group photo like Nathan said—the same photo the pictures were ripped out of.

Matt compared the pictures to the photo. "That's the same photo."

"Half the people in this picture are dead," Nathan noted. "It's like the killer is picking them off one by one."

"Maybe one of these is the killer."

"Or they pissed someone off and now they want revenge," I suggested.

Nathan pointed to Arthur in the picture who obviously wanted to avoid the camera. "Look, there's my father. My mother. Charles Deveaux, Linderman, Kaito Nakamura. This guy's name is Bob. Bob. I don't know his last name. I don't know the rest of these people in that picture, either."

I looked at each of the individuals Nathan pointed at. The only ones I recognized were my foster parents and Linderman. I glanced at the others but everything was drawing a blank as to who they were until I stopped on one individual. I felt like I knew him yet I had never seen him before in my life. He had grey hair, wrinkles on his face, a strong figure and tan skin. The man appeared to be serious and stern.

As I was trying to figure out who this man was, Matt pointed to a bigger individual. "I know him."

"How?" Nathan asked.

"That's my father."

Suddenly it all clicked together. The man in the photo was someone I had never met before, but only heard barely a word or two about him. I practically had to beg my mom to talk about him. I even peeked into her photo albums because speaking about him was such a taboo for her.

I pointed to the man. "I know that man."

Nathan looked at me curiously. "You do?"

"Well, I never met him but I've heard of him."

"Who is he?"

"Ignacio Santiago. My grandfather."

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! I know I'm going to sound like an evil person the way I'm leaving off this chapter but I probably won't update for awhile. I'm participating in Nanowrimo this year so I'm trying to focus most of my time and energy on the original novel I've been working on for five years now. I'll cut a deal with you though, if I get enough reviews, I'll post the next chapter.<p>

I created a role playing twitter account for Danni and a fan-page on Facebook as well. The links are on my profile. Until next time,

~Emyrox567


	28. Stay or Go

Stay Or Go

I didn't realize how big the news was until I saw the blank expressions on Nathan and Matt's faces. I never really told Matt that I was adopted. It's not that I didn't want to, it just didn't come up. As for Nathan, I never spoke about my family other than my mother. That's all I really knew anyway. Ever since I was born, it was just my mom and I on the road. Sure she had a couple of boyfriends, but she could never commit to them. Not to mention my mom barely even spoke about her family. She told me that my grandfather emigrated from Mexico and married my grandmother, but that's about it. I was more than surprised to find out that my grandfather specifically was involved with the Petrellis from the beginning.

"Your grandfather?" Nathan's eyes became wide. "From your biological family?"

I nodded. "Yeah. He was my mom's dad."

"Do you know if he's still alive?"

"No. My mom wouldn't even talk about him when I asked. It was like she was afraid of him almost."

"Do you know why?"

"Maybe because she was pregnant with me at seventeen and he obviously didn't agree with that. They've probably had a bad relationship since then considering I never met the man."

"What about your dad, Matt?" Nathan looked to Matt expectantly. "Any stories there?"

"Just one," Matt said. "He stole a lot of money so he went into hiding. The last time I saw him was when I was thirteen. He gave me one hundred and twenty dollars and a pat on the back."

I didn't want to feel bad for Matt, but I couldn't help it. Even before all of this, he had a few problems. His dad abandoned him, his wife cheated on him and now he could read other people's private thoughts. I wasn't in the position to brag about my life obviously. Matt was strong though. If he could make it here and now, he could make it anywhere.

"So we still have no leads as to who's killing these people?" Nathan questioned.

"My dad is alive," Matt stated. "He has to be if he's managed to stay hidden this long. I'll find him."

"How? You haven't seen him in years."

"I'll find a way. While I'm at it, I'll see what the status is on Danni's grandfather." He held up the photo. "Can I borrow this?"

"Sure, it was just collecting dust anyway."

"All right, I'll call you when I get anything."

Matt walked out of the house without another word of goodbye. The case was getting weirder, but at least it wasn't a dead end. Either someone within the thirteen or outside of it was causing the murders. I could hardly believe my grandfather was one of them. Angela knew him and she didn't care to tell me. I wanted to know more about him. Was he just as mysterious as the Petrelli family or was he generally normal? Did he have an ability as well?

I'm pretty sure the same questions were running through Matt's mind right now. Who knows what his father's been doing for the past thirty years?

"You know this is going against your mom's wishes, right?" I noted to Nathan. "You're doing the exact opposite of what she said actually."

I waited for Nathan to take it all back. Just to let it go because that was what was sensible to him. But he didn't.

"I know," he said. "An innocent woman is in jail right now and I'll do anything to get her out."

"Well you were a Defense Attorney so that helps. But to be honest I feel like Angela is right." I sighed. "The more we dig into this the deeper the hole we have to get out of after this. It feels like a repeat of the bomb to tell you the truth."

"I agree, but we have to look into this so that less people get hurt. Look, the way this is going I need you to listen to me. And this time don't argue with me. Try to go on with your life as you normally can as this is going on and don't try to get involved."

"Seriously," I gave out a harsh laugh. "You're going to give me that speech again after everything that's happened?"

"That's exactly why I'm telling you this again. You've almost gotten yourself killed at least two times in the past year because you were trying to be the hero."

"May I remind you of the one time I listened to you and went along with your bidding? Sylar still came after me. In fact, you pushed me right in front of him. So normal or not, I'm screwed."

"Sylar is dead now, Danni and so far this murderer is only going after the people in the picture."

"But I'm already involved," I stated. "And so are you. I'm going to be eighteen this year. When that happens, I'll be able to make decisions on my own without your consultation."

"That doesn't stop me from worrying about you," Nathan admitted. "I can't lose you the way I lost Peter."

"I won't get into trouble if that's what you're asking, but I want answers too."

Nathan paused before speaking again. "I met your grandfather before. He came over to visit mom and dad with his daughter—your mother. He didn't seem to be very social, but he would talk to my mother a lot. It seemed like they were pretty good friends."

"And my mother?"

"She was very bright. Only seven years old and she was reading any book she could get her hands on while I was more concentrated on sports at age fourteen. Compared to your grandfather, she was very social. Linda would always come up to my friends and me just to talk. Even when one of my friends called her out, she would come back with a witty comeback. Beyond her feisty attitude, she did have a soft spot for kids. Peter was two at the time when she met him."

"Did you know that I was her daughter?" I asked.

"No. I barely heard from her after that. Even when mom and dad adopted you, I didn't put the pieces together."

"There are none to put together. I barely look anything like her and compared to her I'm not very social."

"But you have her sense of humor and short temper. You also share the same weakness with kids. Why do you think Monty and Simon like you so much?"

"Sure, I'm nice to them but I don't really like kids."

"Either way, you're your mother's daughter," he said. "And blood or not, you're my sister. All I ask of you is to be careful."

I nodded. "I will."

Nathan suddenly pulled me into an embrace. I froze, unsure of what to do. This was the closest conversation we ever had. The very thought that Nathan spoke to my mom rattled me a little. Did they know that years later, Linda's daughter would soon become Nathan's sister? We were all connected. Therefore there was no such thing as goodbye between all of us.

When I tried to hug him back, Nathan pulled away and walked away without another word. I would never understand Nathan and his form of affection.

I called Cole that night and told him everything that happened that day. From visiting Angela to discovering the photo. Cole was pretty excited when he found out that there was a connection between Angela and Kaito—a connection I didn't really want to know about anymore. He was just as shocked to hear about my grandfather as well. The whole situation only reminded me that no matter where I ended up, I would still be mixed up in all of this.

"Wow, that's crazy what happened between your mom and your brothers," Cole commented.

"I know. My mom could have babysat Peter…that's a little freaky."

"Angela didn't lie about knowing your family."

"I figured she had no reason to," I replied. "Besides from what Nathan told me, it sounded like Ignacio and Angela were pretty good friends."

"Thankfully not as friendly as Kaito and Angela were."

I nearly gagged at the statement. "Cole Bowman! Don't haunt me with nightmares like that!"

Cole laughed at my reaction. "Relax, I was just trying to cheer you up. You had a rough day from the sounds of it."

"I did, I'll admit. But that did not cheer me up. Now I'll forever be haunted by that possibility."

"So, do you know if your grandfather is even alive?"

"No. Matt was going to call for any updates, but he hasn't done that yet."

"Hold on, I think I can look it up. You said he immigrated to the US, right? Do you remember which year?"

"During the Cold War…I think. 1960s maybe?"

"I think there might be a record of him if he immigrated to the US during that time and then we can see if he's alive."

"Cole, I highly doubt you can find his records."

"Wait…I think I found something under Santiago."

"How?"

"I'm on my dad's computer. My grandpa used to work on border patrol in Arizona. When he retired, he still had some left over files and then my dad photo copied them into the computer just to be safe. Anyway I found an Ignacio Santiago here."

"That's probably him," I said, ready to listen.

"Okay, it says here, he was fifteen when he came into the US. He was an orphan and was found by a group of people who helped to give his citizenship. He fought in the Vietnam War…went to University of Virginia…got a law degree…married…and then—oh."

"Oh?"

"I don't know how to tell you this Danni, but he died from a heart attack a few years ago. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I barely knew his name. Thanks for looking him up."

"At least we know he's not a suspect."

"All there's left is Matt's dad and other people in the picture and the sad soul who missed picture day."

"And you've never met any of them?" Cole questioned.

"No. I think somehow my mom knew about this stuff. I mean if she knew there was a possibility of me being special, she had to have had an idea of what her dad was doing."

"What are you saying?"

The theory was crazy, but it was all I had right now. Besides there was nobody to tell me I was wrong or about it.

"I think my mom was running," I said. "Something was going on with my grandfather and everyone else in that photo. Just reading Angela's expression confirmed how sketchy this club was. She was running to take me away from all of it."

"What exactly was she running from though?"

"I have no clue. Until today I hardly remembered I had a grandfather."

"Let's take this one step at a time. Whoever is doing these murders—their targets are on the same picture. Maybe it is someone outside of this."

"Someone who wants revenge," I said mindlessly.

"But who?"

"That's the golden question."

"Maybe Nathan is right. This is starting to get a little creepy and I don't want any of us to get hurt because we know too much."

"No," I said. "This picture just proves how much we're all connected. Nathan and Peter's parents. Matt's dad. My grandfather. It's all connected. The mistakes they made in the past are starting to resurface. Then as their children, we have to fix their screw ups. We have to keep going or else the past just might catch up with the present."

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! Sorry for the long absence. As you know I was participating in Nanowrimo and then finals week got in the way of everything. Hopefully I will be able to update faster since I'm on winter break now. Follow Danni's twitter page or "like" her page on Facebook for more updates on the story. A review or two would be great too!<p>

~Emyrox567


	29. The Breaking Point

The Breaking Point

The next few days passed by like a blur. Ever since I found the photo of my grandfather, I couldn't stop thinking about what my life could have been like if my mother was still alive. She would have told me that I was special the minute I discovered my powers and I probably wouldn't have been involved with everything the year before. As great as those thoughts sounded, I knew they were selfish. I had a good enough life in New York. Sure, I got placed with the modern day Addams family, but I probably wouldn't have known Peter as well as I did.

Anyway, Cole and I put a slight pause on our investigation. We were still hitting dead ends despite the load of information I got by hanging out with Matt and Peter. Besides I had to start working on my application for NYU. As important as this investigation was, I had to think about my future as well. Considering we were already almost half way through the semester and applications were due in December, I thought I should start filling out a few applications. Not just to NYU though. I thought about some out of state schools, but as much as I wanted to get away from New York I just couldn't leave it.

But that turned out to be the least of my concerns as I was helping to construct the props for the upcoming winter dance. Ava was the head coordinator for it and you can guess how the rest of the story went. I personally wasn't a fan of dances. Too much drama happened in one night and there's the slight pressure to have a date. Granted, this year was obviously different but my opinion still stood. Last year's homecoming dance proved my theory and it wasn't even at my school.

"I think I've lost feeling to my fingers," Cole muttered beside me.

Cole got roped into doing it as well. He wasn't that hard to convince, but Ava got me to volunteer and that is a success in itself. We were at the papier-mâché station in the gym trying to put together snowflakes and their stands for two hours. Our hands were covered in papier-mâché at this point.

"Agreed," I nodded.

"Why are we doing this again?"

"For Ava, remember? She's in charge of this whole thing."

"That may be your reason, but she threatened to burn my comic book collection if I didn't come to help out."

"I worry about her sometimes," I mused. "She looks innocent on the outside, but she has a very dark mind."

"I wouldn't tell her that if I were you."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Great job, guys!"

I jumped at the perky voice behind me. I looked over to see Ava beaming at our work.

"At this rate we'll have the models done by this week," she continued.

"Ava, the winter dance isn't until—well winter. Why are we setting up now?" I questioned.

"Since homecoming got cancelled, I figured this would be a good way to combine the two. Besides with the work we have to do, it's better to be early."

"Where is this 'we' coming from?"

"C'mon, Danni I know you don't like doing this stuff, but I really need your help. Especially if I have to deal with Brooke as my co-coordinator."

Ava pointed to the poster station where Brooke was yelling at the confused freshmen.

I rolled my eyes. "And how would I help that situation?"

"You're really the only one who's put her in her place so…I hoped you could stop me from murdering her myself."

"Fine, as long as I get to do it then I'm okay with it."

"I second that notion," Cole said.

"I thought you were just exaggerating when you said that Brooke was crazy," Ava told me. "I never really talked to her in the debate team and yeah she did seem high maintenance from a glance. Then she's my partner for ASB and all hell goes loose. It has to be her way or no way."

"This is why I avoid student organizations," I said. "People like Brooke Hampton breed in that small group annoying the hell out of me."

"I'm trying to stay in ASB long enough so that I can put it in my college applications."

"You're taking more APs than I ever will in my lifetime, you've lettered in two sports and you've been in ASB since middle school. I think you're set."

Ava opened her mouth to reply, but Brooke interrupted.

"Ava, sweetheart," her voice sang bitterly. "Can you come over here and tell these children how to mix colors?"

"How do you not strangle her?" Ava hissed at me.

"I exercise restraint," I smirked. "Besides don't you believe world peace and no violence?"

"Ava, come over here now!" Brooke nearly screamed.

Ava clenched her teeth. "I'm about to reconsider my values." She took in a deep breath and put on a smile. "I'm coming!"

Cole let out a small chuckle. "I haven't seen her this irritated since Dylan put worms in her sandwich in fifth grade."

"I don't blame her," I replied. "I almost punched Brooke last year, if you remember."

"Very clearly." He paused. "So have you heard anything from Matt?"

"No. Even if he did, he would call Nathan and I haven't seen Nathan for the past few days."

"Do you know if he's still staying with you at mansion?"

"I highly doubt it. The usual bottle of beer he leaves on the counter has been full for a while now. Either he's had miraculous recovery in alcoholism, he's living somewhere else now or he's just plain gone."

"Have you tried calling him?"

"I did, but after the first few calls you realize they're trying to ignore you."

"Hold up, for a second. Are you staying alone in that house?" Cole asked me, concern in his voice.

"Yeah," I shrugged.

"Nathan just left you?"

"Yeah."

"Did he leave some kind of money or restock the fridge? Did he even leave a note?"

"We wouldn't be talking about this if he did," I said. "I don't see why you're overacting about this. This is Nathan we're talking about here."

"Look, I didn't think even Nathan was capable of doing that. You're seventeen years old and you don't have a job. He can't just leave you like that."

"I have a job, remember?"

He scoffed. "Yeah, babysitting for Matt who you haven't heard from for days."

I sighed realizing the problem. I was going to have to figure out how to get food once I ran out. Dance rehearsals didn't exactly make it easy for me to find the time for a job. My mom did give me money through her will, but since I was underage I couldn't access it without my guardians—both of which were gone. Contrary to popular belief, I wasn't really mad that Nathan left. I knew it had to be for a good reason concerning the recent murders and he wasn't going to drag me down with him. I knew it would be tough, but if I could survive two encounters with a serial killer I think I could manage making some sort of living.

"Guess I should start advertising myself as a babysitter," I sighed once more.

"If you need any help, or things get bad, I'm just a phone call away."

"Thanks." I smiled. "But I think I'll manage it on my own."

"If you say so…" Cole's eyes wondered to the wall clock. "So, since we're officially done with our shift, do you want to grab something to eat?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but a pair of hands covered my eyes. As an automatic response, I panicked.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" I tried to remove the hands covering my eyes, but they were surprisingly stronger.

"Eager, aren't you?" a familiar voice taunted.

I relaxed realizing who it was. "Chad? Geez, you could've given me a heart attack."

"Well it was supposed to be romantic."

I turned to him, smirking. "I think a few days ago, we agreed that your attempts to be romantic ultimately fail."

"How was I supposed to know your brother was going to walk in on us?"

Cole laughed from behind. "Nathan walked in on you?"

"Unfortunately," I answered.

"I can only imagine the look on his face—and yours."

"You didn't tell your brother that you had a boyfriend, didn't you?" Chad questioned.

I was at a loss for words. It was nothing personal to Chad. If it was personal, it was aimed at my foster family. But how I was going to explain that to Chad was a new issue all together.

"And this is when I walk away…" Cole mumbled.

"Why didn't you say anything to him about us?" he repeated. "Have you even mentioned me?"

"It's nothing personal to you, trust me," I told him. "It's just that we don't really talk about that kind of stuff. Nathan and I are…complicated."

"I got the complicated part down. I didn't realize how bad it was though."

"It just never came up and to tell you the truth, the past few months have been the longest Nathan and I have ever spent with each other. Plus most of the time we spent was to get him sober."

"What about your mom? I mean, I know she's secretive but how bad is it?"

I looked down. "Bad."

Chad lifted my head forcing me to look into his eyes. "Danni, if there's something wrong. You can tell me. I want to get to know you and in order to do that you have talk about it…whether it's good or bad."

I wanted to tell him everything. Everything that happened the year before, what I could do, and the recent mysterious murders. But I didn't think he was ready for that. I wasn't sure if I was ready for it. Leaving him in the dark wasn't easy, but it was necessary. I had to think of my words carefully.

"My foster mom, she…confessed to a crime that she didn't do so she's in jail right now," I began. "As for Nathan, I haven't heard from him for a few days. The last time I saw him he was going to try to prove my foster mom innocent."

"He just left?" he said incredulously.

"He wouldn't be the first brother that left me like that. I'll be okay," I reassured. "I'll need to babysit more, but other than that I'll be fine."

"If you need anything or somebody to talk to, I'll be there."

"Thanks. What about you? How are you doing?"

"Fine, I guess. So how did you end up one the Winter Formal Committee?"

"Ava. She needed help and she had certain threats against me so you can guess how that went."

He laughed. "I'm assuming you don't like going to social gatherings."

"You assumed correctly. I'd rather not get involved in the drama of it all."

"Drama?"

"You're guy so you don't really understand what girls have to go through with dances. First there's the pressure of getting a date, then there's paying for the dress and finding the right makeup and hair style. It's a whole ordeal."

"Ah, but I don't see the problem with you. As far as I can see, you already have a date."

"Really?" I eyed him suspiciously.

"Yep."

"Chad Parker, are you asking me to the dance?"

"Do you want a formal invitation?"

"Sure."

"Danni Petrelli, would you like to come to the dance with me?"

I bit my lip. "I don't know…I don't go to these things if you haven't noticed so how is this any different?"

"You'd be with me, we'll dance and I'm dying to see how you look in a dress."

I blushed. "It's not that impressive."

"It'll get your mind off of everything," he persisted.

"Okay…I'll go."

"Can't wait."

His lips crashed onto mine. I kissed him back for a few moments before trying to pull away. I wasn't used to displaying our relationship publicly aside from holding hands. But as I tried to pull away, Chad wrapped his arm around me preventing me from moving.

"Do we really want to do this now?" I asked him.

"Why not? It's not like it doesn't happen around school." He pulled me into another kiss.

I wanted to kiss him, but not like this. I didn't care who knew about us or not. As much as it felt good to kiss him, I felt naked kissing him in front of everyone. Especially the way he was going.

"Well, that doesn't have to be us," I stated as soon as I could breathe.

He stroked my cheek. "You're all about keeping secrets, aren't you?"

I knew he was somewhat bothered about me not saying anything about having a boyfriend to my foster family. At this point I couldn't tell him enough in order to understand what I have to go through.

"It's not the same thing and you know that," I said.

"Why is it that I feel like you're keeping something from me?"

I underestimated him. I knew Chad wasn't dumb, but I hoped that my lies would dodge him from figuring out that something was up.

"I'm not," I whispered.

Chad wouldn't take no for an answer. "Cole knows doesn't he? C'mon, there's something else I don't know about you, isn't there? Just tell me."

"I can't."

"I promise I won't laugh."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

He was about to argue once more, but Cole's voice stopped him. "Hey, is everything okay over here?"

"We're fine. Thanks for the concern," Chad said with a smirk.

Cole looked to me. "Danni, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I answered.

"So now that you know that everything is fine, Bowman, just go back to whatever you were doing," said Chad.

"It didn't look fine to me from a distance," Cole noted.

"Well, it isn't your business, now is it?"

"Actually it is."

Chad tensed as he walked over to Cole. "Really?"

"Yeah, anything that concerns Danni concerns me."

I could see the glare on Cole's face and the scowl Chad was giving Cole. It wasn't that hard to tell that something was going to happen if I didn't intervene. Cole wasn't a fan of Chad and as I spent more time with Chad I began to realize that the feeling was mutual.

I stepped in between the two boys. "Look, there's nothing going here. Cole, we did have a little bit of a fight, but it's nothing to worry about."

"You heard the lady, Bowman," Chad sneered.

"And Chad, I have other friends besides you. It's okay for them to question who I spend my time with._ ¿Comprende?_"

"Oh, so you don't mind sharing our problems with others but you won't tell me what's going on?"

"It's not like that, Chad."

"Then tell me. What is it that you're keeping from me?"

"I can't tell you."

"You can't or you won't?"

"Hey man, just back off," Cole snipped. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Again, why are you involved with this?" Chad asked, frustrated.

"Again, Danni is my friend. If she wants to keep whatever she's keeping from you then she has my full support."

"And you know about it?"

"I don't think that concerns you."

"I believe it does. Danni's your friend, but she's also my girlfriend. If there's something going on, I'd like to know about it."

_Okay, when did I disappear from this conversation?_

"Guys, calm down," I tried reason.

Both of them ignored me as they glared daggers into each other's eyes.

"If you cared about her, you would trust her on this," Cole growled.

"I trust her. But I need to know what's going on and I still don't see a good reason why you're still here."

"You're in way over your head asking about that. And if you did trust and care about her, you wouldn't be picking a fight with me."

Chad moved past me. "I wasn't." He gave Cole a small shove. "You were the one that came over here, the last I recalled."

"Danni looked uncomfortable. That's enough evidence to tell me that something is wrong."

I raised my hand. "Guys, I'm still here. If you have a problem, take it up with me."

Once again, I was ignored.

"That still doesn't give you the right," Chad scowled at Cole.

"I don't need a right," Cole replied. "If you're pushing her to the point where she doesn't want to be around you, you don't give a damn about her."

"And you do? Never mind, I already know the answer to that. The question is how much do you really care about her?"

"Both of you just stop!" I yelled. "Why is this argument even happening?"

"I don't know, ask your friend," Chad answered.

I looked to Cole. "What's going on?"

"Don't you see?" Cole said. "He's trying to manipulate you. He's trying to make me look like the bad guy here."

"Well if I remember our first conversation about this, you did your best to make Chad look like the bad guy."

"Yeah and I trusted your judgment. But I see what's really going on here: he's your distraction."

I frowned. "My what?"

"Distraction. You said it yourself, you want to be normal and he makes you feel normal. Your foster mom was put in jail and you decide to go on date with him that night. Face it, he's there to make you forget who you really are."

I stood there silently trying to let Cole's words sink in. They hurt, but trying to figure out if they were true was a challenge. Chad did make me feel normal. As for painting a façade, I had trouble processing that.

"You're really gonna throw that line, Bowman?" Chad scoffed.

I held my hand up to him. "Chad, let me talk to him please. Alone."

Chad was hesitant, but after exchanging a reassuring glance, he walked to the other side of the gym.

"Cole, I have known you for five years," I began. "And I have not heard you so angry in my life."

"I'm telling you the truth," he stated. "You're not yourself anymore."

"Okay, since we're being honest here, were you lying about accepting Chad for me? Because I sensing a lot of anger coming out from you."

"I'm not angry at him. I'm frustrated with you." Cole paused. "You're pretending to be someone you're not. What happened to the girl ready to take on whatever came at her? If these murders were going on last year, you would have never stopped investigating. What made you stop exactly? You're new boyfriend?"

"That's way out of our hands, Cole. Nathan's gone trying to figure out what it is and Matt is doing whatever he can. Neither of which have updated me on the situation. Plus life got in the way, you know. I'm filling out my application for NYU while I'm looking at other colleges. I plan to have a future beyond this."

"That didn't stop you from going to Kirby Plaza. Besides when was the last time you used your powers?"

"How is this important?" I questioned.

"You haven't used your powers since Kirby Plaza. The one thing that makes you special and you choose to ignore that gift."

"Yes, Cole, I have been ignoring my powers. Happy?" I bit out. "But do you want to know why? Because it killed Peter. He had too much power and he didn't know what to do with it. Then when Sylar was alive you had to worry about if he was around the corner waiting to take your powers. You have no idea what I've been going through. Chad's the best thing that's happened and you're just going to have to deal with that. And you can't speak about how special it is to be different when you've never stepped out of anything normal yourself."

"Don't turn this around on me," he snapped. "This is about you."

"Why do you care? If trusted my judgment so much, we wouldn't be here talking about it."

"Because you are special, Danni. When are you ever going accept that? Chad will never know that side of you. He'll never know that jumped over a car or that you can fly. He'll never realize how special you are."

"Unless I tell him."

Cole eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"I don't know how long I can keep it from him," I admitted. "I hate lying about it to him and he already knows something is up."

"I don't think you should do it."

"Why?"

"Unlike you, I know Chad. The minute he realizes what you can do, he'll use you."

"You don't know that," I argued.

"Well, do you?" Cole sighed. "Now you're being careless. How much do you really know the guy?"

"Enough to know he wouldn't do that. I took a chance on you, didn't I?"

"That's different."

"Different how? Because I am very confused as why Chad is being classified as the bad guy here."

Cole didn't respond right away. He was in deep thought, that much I could tell. I hated to fight with him like this, but I wanted to know what was going on with him. It wasn't like Cole to act impulsively. Cole was about to open his mouth when Chad returned.

"Unless that's an apology, I suggest you stop arguing with her," he told Cole.

"I just need a couple more minutes with her," Cole replied barely over a whisper.

"You had a couple minutes. Now you need to go."

"Chad," I hissed.

He ignored me and shoved Cole. "I said, go. You don't have any more business here."

"You're really gonna go there?" Cole shoved him back. "What's this going to prove, huh? How much of a man you are in front of her?"

"Watch it."

I jumped in between them. "Enough! Either you two work it out or don't talk to each other at all. While you're figuring that out, I'm going to find some air to breathe."

I stormed out of the gym without another glance at them. I knew that they were at odds but I didn't realize that they were mortal enemies. I was frustrated more than anything. Cole said he would accept us yet he seemed to not have lived up to his end of the bargain.

"Danni!"

I didn't have the desire to talk to anyone at that point, so I kept walking.

"Danni, wait!" the voice called again.

I turned to the voice. "What?!"

I instantly regretted my rueful tone when I saw Ava running up to me. "Oh, it's just you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Ava said. "I saw what happened between Cole and Chad. I wanted to see if you're okay."

"I'll be fine. I'm sorry for bailing, but I need to go."

"I'll go with you."

"You don't have to. Besides you have a dance to organize."

"Brooke has it under control, trust me. You, on the other hand, need a friend, some movies and ice cream, if possible," Ava gave me a weak smile.

"That sounds great, but—"

"It wasn't an option, Danni." She hooked her arm in mine. "I'll drive."

I clearly had no choice in the matter. Ava drove to her house first to grab her things and a few movies before we headed towards the Petrelli Mansion. She had done this plenty of times to me last summer. Whenever I refused to go out with Cole, she would come over and try to cheer me up. This felt different though. She was trying to get me alone, but why? There was something I was missing from the situation and I was determined to find out.

When we arrived at the Petrelli Mansion, we dressed up in our pajamas and settled in the living room. We sat on the floor with the movies spread out.

"Hm…" Ava mused thoughtfully. "_John Tucker Must Die_ or _Sixteen Candles_?"

"John Tucker for sure," I smirked.

"But _Sixteen Candles_ is a classic," Ava pouted.

"We can watch it after John Tucker."

"Fine."

I got up to my feet. "So refreshments. I have popcorn and I can check if we have ice cream. What about for drinks?"

"Oh, you don't have to do that. I can drive to the gas station and get a few things real quick."

"No, it's no problem. There's plenty of soda in fridge."

"Are you sure?" she questioned. "Cole told me about your situation. With your foster mom and brother gone and all."

So that's what she wanted to talk about. "Oh. It's okay. All I have to do is babysit more to earn a little more money since that's all I have time for."

"I'm pretty sure you've gotten plenty of this from Cole, but if you need anything I'll be here."

"Thanks." I smiled. "I'll go get the food."

I was able to find a bucket of ice cream and a package of popcorn to my surprise. It wasn't like there were any other kids in the house that required Angela to stock up on junk food so was shocked to say the least. After I gathered a couple of Coco-Colas and the food, I made it back to the living room where the movie was about to start. For a good hour, I was able to laugh at the girls' attempts to get back at the guy who was cheating on them. I almost forgot about the argument I got into with my boyfriend and my best friend. That is until Ava brought it up.

"So how is it going with you and Chad?" she asked curiously.

I shrugged. "It's fine. Why?"

"I'm just wondering. I barely see you nowadays and when I do, you're with him."

"Is there something you want to talk about because it seems like you're getting to that point?"

"I'm just curious and don't shoot me down when I ask this, but how do you feel about Chad?"

"I like him. Why?"

Ava bit her lip. "How much do you like him exactly?"

"If there is something you want to say then say it because I am very confused considering that you set me up with him."

"It's nothing concerning…it's just a theory I have."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "A theory?"

"Do you remember the first time you and Cole met?"

"Yeah, seventh grade. He ran into a pole and I went to help him. That's where I met you too."

"I was with him when it happened," she confirmed. "He wouldn't stop talking about you after that happened. He kept questioning which school you went to, what you liked, how you were like…etc. Then after your first class together, you two were inseparable."

"As much as I like to reminisce in those memories, why are you bringing them up?"

"I'm trying to prepare you for what I'm about to say. Cole hasn't been the same since you started dating Chad. He's been a little more…depressed lately."

I was taken aback. "Depressed? As in sad depression or I want to kill myself depression?"

"I can't tell. Everything's normal when I'm talking to him, but when you come up in the conversation he just shuts down all of the sudden." She sighed. "It's even worse when he sees you with Chad. He looks at you—no, stares at you and then gives some stupid excuse just to get away."

I opened my mouth to respond, but Ava continued. "I thought he was over it by the beginning of this year, but no! Apparently he had to see you with someone else to realize that he's too slow. Then here I am guilty about the situation considering I gave up on you two because he was so slow. I get that he's trying to be sensitive in your situation, but come on! If you feel anything about anyone, spit it out!"

"Ava!" I snapped. "What are you going on about? If you have anything to say, spit it out please."

"And you! How could you be so clueless all these years?! You're smart, Danni, but God, you're so _stupid_ when it comes to relationships! Cole can't accept that you're in a relationship because he's in love with you!"

I wasn't sure if Ava was expecting a response to that or not, but I could barely comprehend what she just said. She can't be serious. Cole and I spent five years denying to everyone that we weren't involved romantically nor would we be in the near future. Now here's Ava, telling me that Cole's been in love with me since I moved to New York.

Ava took in a great sigh of relief. "Ah…That feels so good to get that off my chest. I thought I was going to explode."

"No, you planted a new bomb," I corrected. "Where is this coming from? Did he tell you?"

"If you're a third party in this situation, he doesn't have to tell you. I've seen him look at you with that puppy-dog face for years and it got worse this year."

"Then how do you know?"

"Simple. He's always there for you, he has that ridiculous smile when you show up and how jealous he's been of Chad."

"Jealous? I thought he hated Chad in the first place."

Ava shrugged. "Maybe it's both. But listen, what matters the most here is how you feel. So…what are you thinking right now?"

"I'm thinking that you're crazy," I admitted. "Cole himself denied having any feelings for me to everyone."

"Okay, but what about you? Have you ever asked him how he felt about you?"

I thought back to all of the times we joked about people assuming we were a couple. Cole told everyone that we were just friends, but we never talked about it amongst ourselves. Not how we felt about it anyway. If I asked him about it, I knew he would answer me truthfully. And thanks to Ava, I was scared to find out what he would say.

"No," I answered. "I just assumed that he didn't have any feelings for me."

"If he asked you if you had any feeling for him, what would you say?"

"I don't know. I'm so confused right now. I care about him, but I don't know how much and Chad…I can't do this to him. It wouldn't be fair."

"Do you love Chad?"

I shook my head. "I really don't know. I'm seventeen years old for crying out. I don't think I'm supposed to know what love is."

"I'm not telling you to go running into Cole's arms. I'm just telling you what I know because you deserve the truth. But you might want to talk to Cole about it."

"Why isn't he telling me this himself?"

"Because how much you like Chad. It wouldn't be fair on you if he put you that situation. Granted, he's been losing it but he's trying."

"What am I supposed do now? I don't want to lose either of them."

"I'd say give it a few days to think about all of it. Sort out your feelings and hopefully you can figure it out from there."

I nodded. "Is that you wanted to hang with me? To tell me I was stupid about my relationships?"

"That was a part of it and I was about to commit a crime if I didn't get away from Brooke."

I laughed. "In that case I would have helped."

"Hey, you're going to be okay. If you want to talk it out, you know I'm here." She gave me a half smile. "Now, if you don't mind, I think we should start eating this ice cream before it turns into milk."

We spent the rest of the night watching movies, gossiping about the girls at school and pigging out on junk food. It wasn't until Ava fell asleep that I remembered her confession about Cole's feelings. I didn't want to think about it, but I couldn't sleep. I tried to think if there were any signs that Cole might have given. He did smile a lot whenever I came up to him—that much I noticed. Then there was the year before. He risked his life to save mine at least two times. We were friends and we cared for each other, but now that I looked at it maybe there was more. Cole always managed to make time for me when I was grieving for Peter. He hardly left my side once.

But what did that say about me? I wanted Chad and Cole to be in my life, but that was proving to be impossible. I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want my best friend to love me while I was dating his enemy. Love was a little drastic though. For one thing, I didn't hear it from Cole. And until I asked him, I would be left wondering where I stood in the whole situation.

When I was finally close to falling asleep, I heard a tap at the door. I looked to the clock to see that it was three AM. I dragged myself off of the couch and walked to the front door. Why would I answer the door at that time of night, I still cannot explain that to you. I had a little bit of hope that I would be Nathan, but that was merely hoping.

Of course my hopes were diminished. I opened the door to see that no one was there. I looked around to see who had knocked on the door. There was still no one there. I glanced down on the porch. My eyes focused on the single envelope with my name written on top of it. I took the envelope and examined it. It was thick, but not thick enough to hold a bomb.

I opened the envelope at that. I froze at what it contained. Inside was a bundle of cash. I didn't know how much was there nor did I care. I was about to throw the envelope to the street until I saw a white piece of paper. I took out the paper and read it.

_Dear Danielle,_

_Hope this pays for this month's groceries. I'll keep in touch. _

_-Adam _

* * *

><p><em><em>Thanks for reading! Good thing the world didn't end or else I wouldn't be able to update...Unless my quick updates are a sign of the apocalypse ;). Either way, Danni knows how Cole feels about her. Things are about to change the next few chapters or so between those two. Until next time.

~Emyrox567


	30. Friend or Foe

Friend or Foe?

"Hey, Nathan. It's Danni again. Not that I'm worried or anything, but I'm just wondering where you are or even if you are alive. But seriously, Nate, at leave a note saying you're going to disappear off of this earth. Just because Peter did it doesn't mean you have to—"

_Beep!_ I sighed as I hung up the phone for the fifth time that day. After Ava left that morning, I wasted no time in calling Nathan. The envelope full of money frightened me to say the least. Of course I wasn't going to tell Nathan that. I just needed to know if he was close on coming home or not because at this rate I was about to take Ava's offer of hospitality. I didn't throw the envelope in the street like I planned to. Instead I set it on the counter where it continued to haunt me. I must have looked over the letter almost a hundred times. I was trying to see if there was a threat attached or anything that didn't make it look like a random act of kindness.

Besides I didn't know anyone named Adam yet he knew about my personal life. There was no use in looking up the name. Adam was too generic. The only people I told about my financial issues were Chad and Cole. Ava found out through Cole. It was disturbing to think that this Adam person was listening in on my conversations.

So far I was the only person who knew about this. I didn't tell Ava because I had a feeling that this was connected to my powers and Cole I haven't called because…well you can guess after my revelation of Cole's possible feelings for me. I wasn't sure how to approach him anymore. And I obviously wasn't going to tell Chad about this since I haven't told him about my powers. Evidently, I was alone in this.

_Ring!_ I jumped as my phone vibrated in my pocket. I didn't hesitate to answer it after the first ring.

"Nathan?" I answered.

"No, it's Matt," the caller answered.

"Oh, what's up?"

"I'm sorry I haven't called you like I said I would. Things have been crazy since I last left you."

"It's okay. We all have lives. It's to be expected."

"It's not just that." Matt paused. "Molly's in the hospital."

"What?" I answered dumbly. "Is she okay? What happened?"

"After I left, I asked Molly to find my father," he began. "It turns out that my father is the reason why she was having nightmares."

"So your dad can get into people's heads too?"

"Yeah and apparently I can do that too, but I haven't really figured that part yet. Anyway, she was scared to find him because he could see her too. When she did agree to it, he saw her and…she hasn't woken up since."

I was speechless. Molly was barely eleven years old. I never thought a man worse than Sylar could exist and yet here I was gaping on how horrible of a fate Molly was currently facing. If this person could get inside of her mind, he must have been trapping her in there.

"Have you tried helping her?" I questioned. "There's gotta be something you can do."

"I tried. My dad's too powerful."

"Did you try talking to him? Does he know that this is a little girl that he's torturing?"

"Your brother and I went to his apartment accusing him of the murders," he raised his voice. "My dad didn't care. All he wanted to do is look after himself. He left Nathan and I trapped in our fears to get away from us…I can only imagine what he's doing to Molly."

"Do you want me to come over? I can help out if you need it," I offered, desperate to get away from my house.

"No, stay where you are right now. I have a feeling you're safer there than you are here."

"Where are you exactly?"

"Mohinder took her to the Company."

It was always back and forth between Mohinder and me. For the most part we got along, but there were those moments when I wondered why he would make such stupid mistakes. Claire filled me in on the Company last summer. They were still active since last year which is why Claire and her family had to move to California under different aliases. These were the people who abducted me, Matt and countless others leaving a single black mark on our necks like we were animals meant to be tracked. And what does Mohinder do? He sends Molly to the very people who will use her as a tool.

"Are you serious?" I exclaimed.

"He thinks they can help her, but nothing's changed since then."

"Of course it hasn't. Look, the way I see it you're the only one that can get in there and help her."

"But how? I can read people's minds, but I've never been inside."

"Don't ask me. I'm not the mind reader here. But I know you'll figure it out. That seems to be your thing anyway." I paused. "You said you went with Nathan to see your dad. Have you seen him since then?"

"He's here trying to figure out the murders still. Do you want to talk to him?"

"If he wanted to talk to me about it, he would have let me know days ago," I said. "I'm good thanks. I just wanted to know."

"Maybe he didn't want you involved."

"Well, a note would have been good to leave or a number to call would have sufficed."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know he left like that."

"It's okay. I wouldn't expect anything more from Nathan."

"I have to go. I'll call you if anything changes," Matt said.

"Okay, I'll talk to you then. Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up the phone. Despite the relief I felt that Nathan was okay, it was quickly replaced by my concern with Molly, the envelope on the counter and my current issues with relationships. This is why I generally stay away from people. Somehow someway they end up bringing drama with them. I didn't realize I would be feeling that with Cole though. Cole was always the one that I would turn to whenever I was having trouble. Now that he was a part of the problem, I realized how alone I was.

I jumped when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I took my phone and looked to see that it was a text. I didn't know the number, but the text read: "Do not under any circumstances trust the Company. They're all liars."

"Who is this?" I texted back.

"Someone you can trust. Someone like you."

I shivered at the text, but typed. "I meant a name, smart one."

"Adam."

I froze at the text. Now this guy had my number. I didn't know what to do. I could block him, but I still didn't know if he meant any harm in contacting me. I needed to know more about him before I could consider him an enemy. Although mysteriously knowing where I live and having my number under his possession falls under the category of creepy.

Before I could respond, someone knocked at the door. For a moment I was worried that it was Adam himself ready to greet me face to face. I approached the door cautiously trying to make out the silhouette through the closed windows to see if it was a familiar figure. I failed miserably at that so I resorted to simply answering the door. Slowly, I opened the door carefully peeking out to see whether or not it was a stranger.

It wasn't. Outside was someone that I knew but didn't really want to see right now.

"Chad, hey," I said quietly.

"Hey," he repeated my soft tone. "Can we talk?"

"I don't know. Are we going to talk or is it going to turn into an argument again?"

"I just need to say a couple of things. Can we talk inside?"

"Fine."

I lead him to the living room where we sat on the couch. I tried to keep my distance from him so I could have space to think. Cole's feelings for me could change my relationship with Chad regardless of how I felt.

"I'm sorry for how I acted," he said. "It was hostile and not necessary in any way."

"I think it's Cole that you need to apologize to."

"You're right, but you know how our interactions are. We can only be civil for so long."

"Cole was just looking out for me like he always has." I paused. "It was not that I was ashamed of kissing you. I just didn't want to show that type of affection to the world."

"I should have listened to you. Normally with the other girls I've dated, they didn't have a problem with public affection like that. But you're different."

"I don't mind handholding or small kiss here and there, but open mouthed kisses are where I draw the line in public display of affection. I'm sorry if I sound like a bitch."

Chad took my hand. "No, you don't. You have your standards and that's fine. I like that about you."

"Speaking about standards, here's a new one: don't threaten my friends. All they want to do is look out for me and I will do the same for them," I told him firmly.

"I get that part. But did you notice anything off about the way Cole came over?" he questioned. "It wasn't like an overprotective brother move where he would have given me a cold hard stare. It was like he was waiting for something like that to happen."

"Cole wouldn't do that."

"Would he?"

Chad locked his eyes with mine. He probably could sense Cole's jealously as well as anyone else—well except for me. I didn't pick up on it until the night before. I could figure out the identity of the man who had the potential to blow up New York yet I failed at listening to the hints Cole dropped about wanting more out of our relationship.

"Listen, I'll admit, Cole's been acting strange lately," I said. "But he's still my friend. I only hope that whatever phase he's going through…we'll be able to get through it."

"So does this mean I'm forgiven?"

"As long as you don't pick a fight with Cole again, then yes. But I still need to talk to him about—"

Chad's lips crashed onto mine before I could finish my sentence. I was surprised by the action to say the least, but I quickly found myself kissing him back. I didn't know why though. I wasn't sure if the moment called for it or I was craving for a distraction. Either way, I was making out with my boyfriend who called my best friend to be jealous.

Something was wrong with me. Ever since Peter's death, I was never able to go back to who I was. I wasn't sure what was going on with me. When Chad came around, he made me forget the grief I went through with Peter and that I was different. He made me feel normal for once. Now, I'm not sure what to feel about him—or Cole. I'm so confused with all of these thoughts jumbling in my head that I kiss Chad more passionately than I intended.

He seems to take my mistake as an opportunity. He wraps his arms around me and places me on his lap. It isn't long before we lean down into the couch with him on top of me. I don't argue with this for some odd reason. Our lips continue to go in sync as his hand travels up my shirt. I shiver as his hand reaches for my bra. I push his hand out of my shirt, but he brings down his other one to pull my shirt up.

That's when I was able to think again. I knew if I didn't say anything now, we'd do something we would both soon regret.

"Chad," I pulled away from him. "Please, stop."

Instead of responding, he began to kiss my neck. I moaned out of impulse. I realized that this was only encouraging him, but I couldn't help myself. _C'mon brain. I know you can outwit these hormones._

"Chad, seriously. We should stop now."

He sat up. "Why? It was just getting good."

"It's not the right time."

"Are you sure?" Chad's lips crashed onto mine once again.

I panicked then. In the same instant that I pushed Chad away from me, blew him off of the couch with my powers. Cole was right about my lack of control.

I had to act cool though. If he noticed I was nervous about the action then he would continue to question me.

"We need to talk," I told him firmly.

Chad was still stunned that he was on the floor. "Wow, I didn't know you were that strong."

"That's not the point. We need to talk about what just happened."

"Let me guess: you're not ready."

"It's not just that." I paused. "My mom gave birth to me when she was around my age. I can't imagine what she would think of me if she saw me doing this."

"You're scared. It's okay, I can wait."

"You make it sound like I even have the possibility of making it to that point again," I scoffed. "Oh, and if you try to push me like that again, I will make sure you will never be able to have children."

"I'm sorry. My emotions got the better of me." He took my hand.

"You're forgiven if you at least try to make amends with Cole."

"What?" His mouth went agape.

"Don't worry, I'll talk to Cole so that you two are at a mutual understanding. I'm not asking you to make a peace treaty overnight, but at least be civil with him."

"He's not my favorite person, but I'll do it for you."

"Thank you."

"I have to go, but I'm really sorry about what just happened. If you want to wait, I'll be willing to wait." He gave me a brief kiss before getting to his feet.

"I appreciate that, but don't ever push me like that again. If you want to go farther, you need to talk to me about it."

"I know, I should've but I just couldn't help myself." He stroked my cheek. "You're just so beautiful."

I felt my cheeks heat up. Chad wasn't making it easy for me to be mad at him. I was frustrated that he was pushing me, but at least he stopped when he did. I was giving him one chance and that was it.

"Bad timing, I know, but I have get going. I'm assuming we're still on for winter formal?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I'll call you later."

"Talk to you then," he smirked.

I followed him to the door and watched him go. My feelings for Chad were still unknown. I liked him a lot, but I wasn't sure if it was love or a simple misconception on how I felt. All I wanted to do was crawl into a corner and stay there. My life was beginning to get more complicated than what I bargained for.

I spent most of the day watching TV and catching up on homework. Luckily the phone didn't ring. I was afraid that if I picked it up, it would be Adam. There was something about him that made me cringe. Why Adam was contacting me was another question left unanswered.

Every few minutes or so I would check the windows to see if anyone was watching me from the outside. The house was eerily quiet without Nathan or Angela. Sometimes I would hear Nathan drinking while watching the news or I would find Angela reading in the library. It felt like a hole waiting to be filled. Whenever I imagined being away from the Petrellis, I always saw myself in an apartment away from them—not inside their house alone. I don't call them the Addams family for nothing. If Angela kept as many secrets as she did, who knows what secrets her house harbors?

_Buzz!_ My phone vibrated once again in my pocket. I hesitantly pulled it out. I gave out a sigh of relief to find that it was a number than I knew.

"Hey, Claire," I answered.

"Hey, Danni," she replied, a little distressed.

"What's up?"

"It's my dad," she sniffled. "And West and everything."

"Whoa, calm down. What's going on?"

I was a little confused considering my last update with Claire was that she finally decided to go out with West. Not long after that, she found out that he was special as well. The ability to fly. I couldn't stop laughing at the irony of that. The girl had daddy issues, she was just in denial. Anyway it was the happiest I heard her since she moved to California and now here she is crying over the phone.

"West was kidnapped by my dad when he worked for the Company," she explained. "I tried to keep them apart but West was so determined to meet my parents. When he came over, he saw my dad come home and he freaked out. I haven't seen him since."

"I'm sorry. Have you tried talking to him?"

"He won't answer my calls and he hasn't replied to any of my messages."

"You could try to go to his house and grovel. That's what Chad had to do a few moments ago."

"I don't think I'll get the time."

"Why?" I asked carefully.

"A couple days ago, West and I played a trick on a cheerleader using our powers and my dad found out. He's saying that we're moving in the morning."

"Are you serious?" I sighed. "Claire, why would you do something like that?"

"My dad wouldn't let me date, so I needed another excuse."

"So you took out the cheerleader blocking your way. Why do I get the feeling that you're still one of the stereotypical cheerleaders?"

"I was desperate. I love West and I needed to see him."

"Look, Claire, I really don't know what to tell you. What do you want me to do exactly?"

"Maybe you can come over here and try to convince my dad," she suggested. "He'll probably listen to you."

"I can't. I have applications to fill out and homework to finish. Not to mention I am having problems of my own."

"Maybe I can help you. Just talk about it."

"I can't because there's nothing you can do to fix it so I don't see the point in ranting about it." I snapped.

"It won't hurt to talk about it, Danni. Trust me, I need a break from the crisis going on in my life."

"Fine. Nathan's been gone for a few days. I only just found out where he was today from someone else. But that's not the real problem. Cole hasn't been himself since I started dating Chad. I feel like I'm losing him. And now I finally hear that the reason he's been acting this way is because he's supposedly in love with me. The worst part? I don't know how I feel about him or Chad for that matter. I'm so lost and I don't know what to do."

"Wow…I wasn't expecting that."

"Don't lie to me," I groaned. "You and everyone else knew about Cole's crush on me."

"Yeah, but have you really asked him about it yet?"

"No. I need to, but I'm trying to figure out how to start out that conversation."

Claire sighed. "At least he's still in your life now. I don't even know if West is ever going to talk me again."

"You at least have to try to apologize. You owe him that much."

"I know. I just don't want to move again…not after we've been settled and the fact that it's my fault makes the situation even worse."

"I really don't know what to do, Claire—for either of us. Asking me for advice would be the worst mistake ever actually."

"I think the only thing we can do is hold on," Claire said. "And try to keep our heads as high as we can."

"And keep our heads together, that's a good one to note."

"Do you ever feel like no matter how hard you try, you can never go back to the way things were?"

"All of the time and at this point, I think all it does is get worse."

"Claire? Are you still alive in there?" a woman's voice called on the other side of Claire's line.

"Yeah, I just slept in," Claire answered the woman.

"Well, lunch is ready if you want it."

"Okay, Mom," Claire replied to the woman before returning her attention to me. "I have to go. I don't care what my dad says. I'm going to stay here and go to cheer practice."

"I'm glad you've got it figured out. Hopefully it works out."

"Same to you. I'll talk to you later."

"Right back at you, Cheerleader."

I let out a heavy sigh as I ended the call. As Claire might have figured out, no one had a clear answer as to how to fix a problem. The only person who could fix the problem was the one who made the problem in the first place. In this case, that was me. I was the one who decided to date Chad because I wanted to feel happy again which caused Cole to change.

I didn't understand how much I did change until Cole pointed it out to me. Pushing Chad off of me was the first time I had used my powers in months. I realized how much I was neglecting the friends I once held close to me in my darkest days and I regretted it once. But as I regretted my decisions, I loathed the fact that Cole couldn't tell me how he felt when I'm the one that's been honest with him. I specifically asked him what problem he had with Chad, but he refused to tell me the real truth. Chad did tell me that he's dated other girls—regardless of Cole's warning. Maybe if Cole had said, "Hey, don't date this guy because I really like you more than a friend," I probably would have considered.

But now, it was too complicated. I grew close to Chad enough not to want to hurt him. I didn't want to make a choice between Chad and Cole, but it seemed that both of them were pushing me to do so. I knew I would have to speak to Cole sooner or later.

I heard a knock at the door once again. I got up from the couch and made my way towards the door. I figured it was probably Ava picking up something she forgot from our sleepover (something that happened constantly) or it probably was Chad. Both of my predictions were wrong as I opened the door and realized who was really there.

I stood there utterly frozen. I didn't realize I would be facing my fear sooner. "Cole."

Cole smiled weakly at me. "Hey, can I come in?"

"Sure."

I watched him come in without another I word. After I closed the door, I stared at him for a while. Cole stuffed his hands in his pocket, his eyes wandering around the room as if he was contemplating something.

"Do you need something?" I asked.

"No, I won't be here that long," he answered. "I just—there's something you need to know."

I felt a part of my heart stop. "Oh."

"First off, I want to apologize about the way I acted yesterday. It was your problem and although I wanted to help you, I should have given you some space instead of butchering you with all of the things I said."

"It's okay, you were just trying to look after me. The least I ask from you is the tolerate Chad."

His lips tightened. "I know and you're trying to be fair on that, but that's the thing. I can't even tolerate him anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"And this is where the hard part comes…after you left yesterday I realized how much pressure Chad and I put on you so I went to go talk to him. I tried getting a hold of him during rehearsal, but he was resistant so I went to go look for him after. I found him in an alleyway by the theatre…with someone else."

He gazed over at me, waiting for a response. I was trying to let the words sink in. They were simple enough yet I found myself denying them.

"What do you mean someone else?" I questioned.

"He was kissing another girl, Danni. I didn't stick around long enough to figure out who it was, but I saw enough."

"So you came over here to tell me my boyfriend was cheating on me?" I shook my head. "But he was just over here earlier. He apologized and he…there's no way he could have done that."

"Yes there is because he's done it before. You don't know him, Danni."

"And you do? Well excuse me for ignoring my all-knowing spirit guide of Chad Parker."

"What's gotten into you?" Cole reached out to me, but I moved away.

"What's gotten into me? What about you? Ever since the beginning of this year, you've been distant with me. It's like I can't even talk to you about anything anymore."

"Maybe because you're spending most of your time with Chad."

"And that's another thing. You told me you would try to accept the fact that I wanted him in my life. What happened to that? Did it just disappear overnight?"

"No, that isn't the main issue," he said firmly. "Chad is having an affair. What don't you understand about that?"

"I guess I'm having a hard time taking your word for it, Cole." I paused. "Tell me and you need to be honest with me: did you come over to check up on me yesterday because you noticed something was wrong or were you waiting for something like that to happen?"

"Why would you think I'd do that?"

"Just answer the question please."

"Fine. When I left you to talk with Chad, I did watch you from a distance. Not because I was waiting for you to get into an argument—I was just looking out for you."

"Basically, you knew something was going to happen," I scorned. "And waited for the right opportunity to come right in."

"Seriously, tell me what is going on," Cole demanded his voice rising.

I knew the next few words that needed to come out of my mouth, but I was afraid to ask the question. Regardless of the answer though, I needed one.

"Are you in love with me?"

The words came out higher than a whisper, lower than a shout, but clear enough for Cole to hear. Cole stood there, unresponsive. This was one of those rare moments when I wish I could read minds to see what he was thinking. Yet with his silence as his response, I could tell what he was thinking.

"Answer the question please," I quietly begged.

Cole took a couple of steps in front of me and before I knew it, his lips crashed onto mine. I froze against his gentle touch. I wasn't expecting this at all. _You just had to know, didn't you, Danni? _I pulled away from him, unsure of how to react. So I did what I thought was appropriate.

I slapped him across the face. "What the hell?! I tell you to answer me and you kiss me?!"

"I-I didn't know what to say," he stuttered.

He didn't have to after the stunt he pulled.

"Cole, we've told each other and other people for years that we're just friends. Why now do you decide to have a crush on me?" I questioned.

"It wasn't just now. I've been crushing on you since seventh grade. It's just been intensified since last year."

"Oh, God," I muttered. Ava was right.

"I'm not asking you to feel the same way," Cole said barely above a whisper. "I just want an answer. How do you feel?"

"How do I feel? I'm confused, Cole. I didn't realize the real reason why you didn't want me to date Chad. I asked you about it too and you didn't even say anything."

"What could I say?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe you could have mentioned that there's more between us or something about being in love with me. Trust me, there are plenty of movies out there for reference."

"It wasn't just that. You were finally happy. The happiest I've seen you since Peter's death. I didn't have the heart to tell you." Cole paused. "That's why I'm telling you the truth. Chad's cheating on you."

I shook my head. "I really don't know what to believe anymore. Up until last night, I thought you had no feelings for me and now I don't know what to think or feel anymore."

"I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner. Believe what you want. Just know that I want you to be happy." He sighed. "Bye, Danni."

I watched wordlessly as he left out of the front door. A part of me wanted to stop him and apologize, but what else could I say that wouldn't hurt him? _Oh hey, I'm sorry I don't know how I feel right now, but I hope we can still be friends while I'm still dating the guy you hate._ No, that was stupid. When he finally left though, another part of me felt rage. Not at him—me. Because I couldn't make a simple decision and good judgment, Cole had to be the one who got hurt.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror in the hall and stared. "Who am I?"

My friendship with Cole would never be the same after that day. Tears began to well from my eyes at this realization. Of all people, I never wanted to lose Cole. Now because of my ignorance and my conflicting feelings, he could be lost to me forever. I guess I really was alone.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! I know this wasn't the greatest chapter to come back with after not updating for about a month. Part of the reason it took awhile to update was because I couldn't decide on how to edit this chapter because of how significant it was to the story. I know it looks a little glum for Danni this season, but I promise you things will get better for our hero.<p>

School literally exploded in my face this semester. Anyway, in case you haven't noticed I changed my pen name from Emyrox567 to ShatteredxDreams411. I felt the old one was a little immature for my age at this point since I came up with it in sixth grade. Leave a review and tell me what you think! 

Also follow Danni on Twitter and Facebook. The links are on my profile.

~ShatteredxDreams411


	31. Silence Is a Curse

Silence is a Curse

Silence. It's the word we use to describe the lack of communication between one another. It can be relieving depending on the situation, but in my case, it wasn't. For the past month, I've experienced silence to a new level that I never thought existed. It's the voice you want to hear, but you can't because you know they will never answer—no matter how loud you shout their name or how many times you call them. In my case, I did neither because I already knew what the outcome would be. Cole and I haven't spoken since he kissed me.

That was a month ago. It's the longest I've gone without having a conversation with him. But I knew it was necessary. We needed space and time more than anything to figure it out. Especially for me. I haven't stopped thinking about the moment he kissed me, but I still didn't know how I felt about it. He wanted me to be happy. He just _had_ to leave it up to me—as if I had all of the answers. What did make me happy?

I remember _Barney_ made me happy when I was five, but two years later I thought he was just an annoying purple dinosaur who believed he could dance. Then there was my obsession with Aaron Carter—that fad didn't take too long to fade. I didn't know what made me happy. Life changed too fast for me to figure that out. _Peter Pan_ used to be one of my favorite movies, but now that I can fly, I can hardly bare to look at it. In order to figure out what made me happy, I had to figure out who I was and I'm not even close to that. But what if I decide that I want to remain friends with Cole? How do I tell him without hurting him the process?

While I was trying to figure that out, I was finishing up my application to NYU. I was filling out other applications to other schools just in case, but NYU was my main goal. It was after school and I decided to finish filling out my application under the tree outside of the school. Not long after, I felt someone beside me.

I turned to see who it was, but their lips crashed onto mine before I could get a good look. I panicked for a moment as to who it was until they broke the kiss just as fast. I relaxed realizing that it was only Chad.

"Hey," I forced a small smile. "I didn't expect you here."

He shrugged. "I saw you coming over here and I thought I'd say hi."

"Well that's not how most people greet each other."

"I was trying to be romantic."

"And most of your attempts fail," I teased. "I thought you were some nut job."

Lie. I was afraid it was Cole. Not only had it been replaying in my mind constantly, but our kiss reoccurred constantly in my dreams. The startling part was that I didn't stop him.

"Can't blame a guy for trying," he smirked. "So what are you doing under a tree?"

I pointed to my laptop. "Finishing up my application for NYU."

"Is it almost done?"

"I got my letter of recommendation from my dance coach and I just finished the essays. All I have to do is polish up my information and I'll have it in by the end of this week."

"That's amazing."

"Have you thought about where you're going to college yet?"

"I really want to go to Julliard, but I highly doubt I'll get in."

"Don't doubt yourself. That's what you told me."

"I'll try, but in the meantime, I'll apply to a few other colleges as my safety blanket."

"Fair enough."

"Are you doing okay?" he asked suddenly.

"Yeah, why?"

"Have you and Cole spoken since that day?"

I sighed. "No and he's not going to. I wish he would but—"

"You shouldn't even worry about it. If he doesn't realize what makes you happy then he's not that good of a friend."

"I'm the one that's not the good friend, Chad."

"Well, last I checked friends don't kiss friends."

I told Chad the next day of my conversation with Cole. I wasn't sure if this was a right move on my part, but Chad had the right to know. He was angry at first—mostly at Cole. I was able to stop him before he thought about doing anything to Cole. I did ask if Chad was seeing someone else, but he claimed that an ex from his past got a hold of him and tried to go too far. Cole just came in at the wrong time. I wasn't sure who to believe, but as you can see now, I obviously took Chad's word over Cole's. I still had no idea what was going on with me. I didn't know what to feel anymore.

"It won't happen again, Chad," I said firmly. "I didn't kiss him back, you know that."

"I know. The next time he does though, that'll be the first place he swells up."

"Don't talk about him like that. We may not me speaking right now, but that doesn't mean I won't defend him."

"I'm just saying, if he really had a huge crush on you, he would let you go."

_He already has._ "Why are you trying to push him out of my life?"

"Excuse me for being the over protective boyfriend," he replied.

"You wouldn't feel threatened unless you knew he had a chance," I noted.

"I'll admit, I'm a little jealous of the guy. He's known you longer and he has that over you."

"Regardless of what's happened, Cole is still my friend, but I still care about you."

"That's why I'm a jerk when I'm around him. I care about you too and I'm not willing to lose you."

I shook my head as I got up. "I'm sorry; I just have a lot on my mind right now. I should be getting home."

He stood up to his feet. "Here, I'll drive you home."

"It's okay, I'll just walk."

"There you are, Danni!" Ava's voice suddenly came.

I turned to see Ava walking up to us.

"I promised I would give you a ride home, remember?" she looked at me expectantly. She was saving me.

"Right," I smiled. "I completely forgot. Don't worry, I'm covered, Chad."

"If you say so," he kissed my forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow. Are we still on for the dance this weekend?"

"Of course. See you tomorrow."

I followed Ava to her car leaving Chad alone under the tree. He had asked me the same question for the past week. I guess he was starting to get worried as to where our relationship stood. Things had been tense with us since I told him about Cole.

The car ride was mostly quiet with the radio filling the silence. For some reason I didn't feel like talking. Yet when I wasn't talking I was thinking about Cole and then Chad. I wanted to stop feeling like this, but I couldn't stop.

"Thanks for saving me back there," I told Ava.

"No problem," Ava said evenly. "I know you and Chad are having your issues right now along with your Cole sulking."

"I really don't know what to do. Cole kissed me which made things more complicated and I really miss talking to him."

"If it's any consolation, Cole's sulking about you too. He kind of looks like a lost puppy to tell you the truth."

I groaned. "I hate doing this to him. But can I say without hurting him?"

"The only thing that will hurt him is being someone you're not happy with even if it's him."

"That's thing though: I can't figure it out. I haven't stopped thinking about him and I don't know if it means that I miss him or I love him or both. And there's Chad to think about. I can't do this to him."

"Do whatever you think is right, Danni," Ava advised. "But more than anything don't string them along. Cole of all people doesn't deserve that."

The car pulled up to the Petrelli Mansion and I began to gather my things. "That's the main reason I haven't spoken to Cole. I don't want to hurt him more than I already have because I can't make a choice."

"Just make it soon or else there won't be any friendship to go back to."

I nodded and thanked her for the ride before heading inside. Ava was the one person that I talked to about my boy issues. She didn't exactly support me what was going on, but she was firm with the advice she gave. If only I was smart enough to give that kind of advice. That's what I liked about Ava. She was honest about her opinions. She was also incredibly helpful when the situation called for it. Ava took it upon herself to drive me to and from school the past month. She even dropped off some Indian food a couple times a week to help me in my situation.

Nathan still hadn't returned. I tried calling Matt again, but there was no answer. So I ended up babysitting for my neighbors' kids for extra money. I didn't use a dime of what that Adam character gave me. I kept it in safe and locked in my drawer, but I promised myself I wouldn't use it unless I was desperate. He continued to send me text messages and emails warning me about the Company. Each time he would promise that we would meet soon. I was beginning to think it was an empty promise, but at the same time I feared for the day he would show up on my door step. I didn't know who this man was. Sure, he knew about the Company which meant he knew what I was but that didn't put my anxiety to rest.

The rest of the evening, I continued to fill out my application while trying to study for finals. _Buzz!_ My phone vibrated on my nightstand.

I picked up the phone without looking at the caller ID. "Hey, Ava do you remember if the reading chart was due this week or next week?"

"Danni," a hoarse voice answered.

I froze. "Nathan?"

"I'm sorry I haven't called. There's a lot that's been going on."

"Same story here, but I still make the time to leave voicemails in your phone."

"Again, I'm sorry. I can't have you more involved that you already are."

"So then why are you calling me?" I asked.

"I needed to know if you had any more information on your grandfather."

"I didn't get much. He died from a heart attack a few years ago so that crosses off one suspect."

"Another dead end," he growled. "Parkman's dad attacked Primatech a month ago and is under the Company's supervision now. We don't have any more suspects."

"There's gotta be somebody."

"There will be. I'm getting on that."

"Where are you?"

"I can't say," he replied. "I'm trying to make things right. I can tell you that much."

"Just be careful and come home soon."

"I will. If you're having any problems, you are welcome to the bank account to help."

"No," I protested. "I'm not going to take your money."

"You're a Petrelli. It's your money too. I have to go now. I'll try to call soon."

"Okay, bye."

Nathan hung up before I could finish. I was disappointed that he wasn't planning on coming home anytime soon. If he was, he would have mentioned something. The mansion did get lonely without Angela or Nathan sulking around. I didn't mind completely though. I was doing fine without him anyway.

After Nathan's short phone call, I found myself studying for finals to take a break from applications in my room. The cloudy weather during the day eventually turned into a thunderstorm. The rain tapped on my window as the wind whipped against the house. I put on my radio to distract from the loud noises. Aside from that the mansion was extremely quiet. I mean it was already quiet with just me living in the house, but something felt strange.

For the past month, Adam made the point to text or email me once a day. They weren't creepy exactly. Yes, creepy because he continued to contact me through information I did not give him, but he never tried to flirt with me. He told me never to trust the Company and to keep my guard up, but he never made suggestive comments towards me. But today was different. Not once did I receive a text message from him. I wasn't looking forward to it, if that's what you're thinking. It was just strange.

_Bam!_ I jumped as the lights went out.

I groaned as I reached for the drawer of my nightstand. "Great, just what I needed…"

The storm must have cut the fuse. Luckily, I always kept a flashlight for safe keeping in the nightstand. I felt through the drawer to find the flashlight. Once I did, I turned it on and faced it towards my books. I was going to bed soon anyway. I could deal with the electricity problem in the morning. Or so I thought.

_Creak…_My ears perked up to the sound. I listened carefully for any other sounds. As the year progressed I realized that there was more to my power than I thought. Since sound is carried out through air, I was able to hear distant sounds or even conversations. They weren't as clear as a person who had the specific power for that, but it was doable. I heard faint footsteps making their way to the kitchen. They weren't cautious as a thief would be in this situation, but I still didn't know who it was. I used my flashlight to find the bat in my closet and carefully made my way down the stairs.

Walking through the mansion in the darkness made me realize how creepy my home could be. Every time the lighting glowed throughout the house, I always felt like there would be something there ready to jump out. Even when I first moved into the Petrelli Mansion, I knew there was something eerie about the place. Now that the house was missing the Petrellis, it seemed like a scarier place. I was able to make to down the stairs without making any noise to let my presence be known.

I heard someone moving about the kitchen opening drawers and cabinet doors. I crept slowly, pointing my flashlight opposite of the kitchen. I needed to be careful. The person inside the kitchen could be either desperate for food or money. Then I remembered I had a bat in my hand. There were no prayers for them if they decided to attack me.

I held the bat firmly in one hand as I held my flashlight in the other. I silently tip-toed inside of the kitchen.

"OK, whoever the hell you are, get out of this house before I give you a black eye," I called out to the stranger.

I heard chuckling by the counter so shined my light there. It was a thin man with blond hair and hazel eyes. Unlike any intruder, he wasn't fearful that he had been caught. It seemed as though that it was his intention all along.

"And what are you planning to do with that bat?" he challenged, his thick British accent clear as day. "Threaten to hit me with it?"

"Tempt me and I will hit you," I glared. "Now get out."

"For someone who's been living in this house alone I would think you would want the company."

"Have you been stalking me?"

"Not exactly. I've had other duties to attend to than observing your daily activities."

I put the flashlight on the counter and gripped the bat with both hands. "Okay, you have ten seconds or less to tell me who you are or your head becomes a human baseball."

"You don't recognize me? Well, if you must know, my name is Adam Monroe."

I froze in front of the man. "Adam? As in the Adam who has been blackmailing me for the past month?"

He chuckled once more. "I knew you'd be startled. My intention was never to blackmail you. I thought since your brother, Nathan, was gone it would be a good idea to keep an eye on you."

"Why? Who are you exactly?"

"I'm like you. Different. Special. I was put in a prison cell at the Company to rot. I can't even give them that satisfaction."

When I didn't answer, he continued to speak. "Don't believe me? Here, watch and learn." He took the knife from the nearby drawer. I flinched at this action. "I won't hurt you, I promise. Watch." He slide the knife across his bare arm drawing blood as he did so. Then a few moments later, the wound began to disappear as Claire's would.

"You can heal," I stated.

"It's more than that," he smirked. "It was healing from sword wounds at first, but as the years wore on I realized that age didn't have much of an effect on me."

"How old are you exactly?"

"I've lost count after a hundred, but I would think around four hundred years."

I nearly dropped the bat. "Four hundred? How is that possible?"

"I can heal from any wound—including old age. There's no need to tell me what you can do. I saw your file while I was at the Company. Air manipulation. That's a lot more useful than my power."

"That still doesn't explain why you're here."

"I know your brother, Peter. He told me about you while we were in the Company."

I shook my head. "That's impossible. Peter's been dead for months."

"Ah," Adam grinned like the chestier cat. "That's what they told you, didn't they? Do you find it interesting that Peter, the one who could heal, died while Nathan, mortal as ever, lived a nuclear explosion?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What do you know?"

"I'll tell you as soon as you lower your weapon. I may be able to heal, but that doesn't mean I like to be hit. I promise I'm not here to hurt you."

"Then what are you here for?"

"To tell you the truth, if you're ready to hear it."

I hesitantly lowered the bat. "Fine, I have nothing else better to do anyway."

"Excellent. Now, let's put on some light in here. I don't want to talk about this in the dark."

Using the flashlight, I was able to find the candles and the lighter. I set the candles on the counter and lit them as Adam helped himself to one of Nathan's old beer bottles.

"Do you want something to drink as well?" he offered.

"This is my house, I should be asking that question," I quipped. "But I wouldn't be asking that question to you since you broke into my house."

"You left the door unlocked. It was like you were waiting for someone to come in and save you from your misery."

"Are you going to talk or what?"

"All right, you want to get right down to the hard part. Where do we start?"

"How did you get a hold of my number and my email?"

"Your files. The Company knows more about you think, Danielle."

"Why warn me about the Company then?"

"They will do anything to make sure you're on their side," Adam replied. "Why do you think you're a Petrelli? Angela and Arthur were there to keep an eye on you after your mother died."

"That I can believe, but why would they want me in the first place."

"Simple. You're a child without any parents to tell you right from wrong with extraordinary abilities. It's easier for them to request that you become an agent for them."

"An agent?"

He rolled his eyes. "You don't know anything, do you? Their policy is 'one of us, one of them.' They grab the sorriest nobodies off of the streets that are different and convince them to become an agent to abduct others like them."

I perked my head up at that. I distinctly remembered my mysterious abduction the year before. I still don't remember what happened when I was abducted, but I remember coming back home with a mark on my neck.

"In your case, they were waiting for your abilities to manifest after your mother died. Then they would take you away to train you to be their little soldier."

"Like Claire almost did," I whispered to myself.

"I don't know a Claire, but I do know an Elle Bishop. She discovered her abilities a little too early. Her father being one of the founders of the Company didn't hesitate to bring her in. For years they ran tests on her to see what was _too much_. The little girl that first came to work with daddy walked out of there a sheltered psychotic woman who had never been on date, never been to a movie and never had any friends. She turned into the robot her father wanted her to be. She currently does the dirty work her father would never dream of doing."

I sighed. "A year ago, I wouldn't have believed a word you said. But ever since everything that happened and how distant the Angela and Arthur were with me, I'm not surprised. The whole situation is sick, but it seems more possible." I paused. "Wait, if Angela knew about my abilities before I did why didn't she take me in right away?"

"Arthur Petrelli was always the driving force in everything. Maybe once he passed, she began to hesitate over the whole ordeal."

"I still can't believe it."

"I didn't ask you to believe. I'm just the messenger."

"Do you think the Company still plans for me?" I questioned.

"They do, but I probably wouldn't know anything about them. I just escaped their prison a few months ago or so."

"Then how were you tied with the Company?"

Adam's lips tightened as he gulped another sip of his beer. "I came to them. I offered a solution for them to save the world. They agreed at point, but then they stabbed me right in the back."

"How long ago was this?"

"Thirty years ago."

"Did you happen to know an Ignacio Santiago?"

"Your grandfather. I met him, yes."

"What was he like?"

"If you're asking for anything sentimental, you're asking the wrong person."

"I'm not," I answered. "I just want the truth."

"Fine. He was very decisive. Ignacio knew what had to be done and he went through with it to the end including getting me locked up. Quiet, he may have been but there was always a plan in his head. I never had a full conversation with the man. He mostly spoke to Angela. It seemed as if they were very close friends. That might be one of the reasons why she didn't send you to the Company, now that I think about it."

"So, he wanted you locked up?"

"He didn't like me the minute I walked in the room. He was very particular about people, but it was mostly due to his ability. By a simple physical touch, he was able to see a person's past, present and future. Ignacio must have seen something about me that he didn't like very much."

I could see Ignacio now. Distrustful of many others while living his glory days with the corrupt. My mother must have been worried that my grandfather would have taken me into the Company so she ran with me. But none of this won my trust for Adam. Like my grandfather, I could see something strange about him.

"Why are you here?" I asked calmly. "Why would you even make the effort to break into my house and talk to me?"

"Fine, let's get down to business shall we? Your brother was never dead. Nathan was the one who was mortally wounded if anything."

I shook my head. "If he was alive this whole time, Peter wouldn't just disappear—again."

"It wasn't his choice. The Company saw him as a threat and locked him up letting the world believe that Peter was dead."

"Peter wouldn't let that happen though."

"The Company put him under the impression that they trying to cure him. It wasn't until a couple months in that he realized the flaw in it all."

"And where do you come in?"

He smirked. "His cell was next to mine. We spoke to each other frequently. I helped him escape. He stopped taking the medication they were giving him and we were able to get out of there."

"Then why didn't Peter come back then?"

"I don't know the whole story on that either. Shortly after we made our escape, we went to Nathan. With my blood, I was able to cure Nathan of all of his injuries. Just as we were leaving, we were ambushed. We separated and I haven't seen him since. But I have a hunch as to where he'll be. I want you to come with me."

"Come with you?" I asked, my mouth agape. "Are you crazy? I don't even know if you're telling the truth."

"All you have is my word. If it's wrong, then you are free to return home."

"I can't just leave, Adam. Not all of us wander aimlessly throughout this world because our lives are well out lived. I have school and I need to stay in school if I want to get into NYU."

"And why is that?" he inquired. "So you can be normal? I don't know if you noticed, but what we are isn't normal. I'm asking you to come with me to save the world and you're turning down my offer because you want to stay in school like a good girl."

"The last time I accepted that offer, the people that I love were in danger. I'm not going to make the same mistake again."

"There's a virus. The Shanti Virus. Right now, it only affects people like us, but if we don't do anything to stop it…the whole world is jeopardy."

"What exactly does it do?"

"For us, it takes away our abilities first. Then as time goes on the victim becomes weaker resulting in death. There's a strain of it out there. If it's released into the air, then the world is doomed."

"And why am I important in this?"

"You're Peter's sister. He'll be more willing to help me if you were by my side."

I sighed. "Even if I did believe you about Peter, I still can't leave. I have boyfriend problems along with best friend problems and normalcy problems. I can't leave my problems behind to chase after another. I'm sorry."

"You know, after a century or so of immortality, you realize that no matter how long you live there will always be problems. It's the decision that defines us. In many of my cases, I have chosen flight. But you're a fighter. I can see that much in you."

I could see that Adam wasn't pleased with the decision I made, but what I else could I do? How was I supposed to believe a man that broke into my house in the middle of a thunderstorm and claimed that my dead brother was alive? Plus this wasn't a movie or TV show. If I wasn't at school for a certain period of time, people would start to ask questions that I didn't want to tell them the answer to. I was a seventeen year old girl not Hercules. Adam would have to find someone else to help him.

"I'm sorry if the world suffers because I decided to have a life, but there are more than three billion people on this earth," I said. "I'm pretty sure you'll be able to find someone to help you."

"You still don't believe me," Adam mused. "Well, it would have made my job easier if you had come. No matter, I'll manage and I'll give you time to think about it."

"I've thought about it and I said no. Whether you want to accept that or not, is not my problem."

"Regardless, you know how to contact me if you have a change of heart or you just want to talk." Adam glanced at his watch. "I should be heading out if I want catch Peter on time. Do you want me to tell him that you refused my offer to see him?"

I only glared at him. My words were weak against his stubbornness obviously.

"Right, well, I hope we meet again, Danielle." Adam began to stride from the kitchen. "Oh, and if you think for even a second that you can be normal then you're a fool."

"And you're an ass, so both of us aren't happy," I sneered.

"Whichever way you choose to see it. Goodbye, Air Maiden."

I stood in the kitchen until I heard the door slam. Once I did, I locked the door and any window I could find. I tried to process the encounter that just happened, but I could barely understand it. The threat of a deadly disease lingered and my brother might possibly be alive. Then there was the immortal man that broke into my house informing me of all of this. Why couldn't have it been a burglar? At least then I could beat him my bat and he'd be gone. Now, of all times I knew I was cursed to a complicated life.

As a natural impulse, I reached for the phone to tell Cole the news, but I stopped myself. If I talked to him about this, he would want to talk about our kiss and I wasn't ready for that yet. Once again, I was alone in this.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! In case you didn't get the message before, I am extending the time line this season. So before any of you get on my case about it, I already know the difference and that's going to be the only thing I change from the actual canon. Sorry about the late update. This semester is taking over my life so trying to fit in time to write has been difficult.<p>

Review and tell me what you think. Danni's in a little bit of a dark place right now and you can brighten up her day with a review...Or you can try to convince her to choose Cole like I have been for the past year.

~ShatteredxDreams411


	32. Where the Truth Lies

Where the Truth Lies

I barely got any sleep that night. All I could think about was Adam's offer to see Peter again. What if he wasn't lying? What if Peter was alive and I just missed out on the only chance I had on seeing him again? These questions haunted my subconscious as I continued to toss and turn in my bed. But how could I trust this man? He even said himself, all the proof he had was his word.

It didn't get any better by the time I came to school. I could barely concentrate in class. The fundamentals of physics seemed to be less important than a killer disease or the reappearance of my dead brother. I tried to distract myself by talking to Chad about the recent movie coming out that weekend, but it would somehow find its way back into my mind. I couldn't tell him of my troubles either. Adam was special like me so that would require me to tell Chad that I could manipulate air. Once again, I didn't think either of us was ready for that.

By the time lunch came around, I wasn't any better. I sat with Ava nowadays since Cole refused to speak to me and vice versa. Ava talked about the upcoming dance, but my mind kept coming back to Adam. It was a little more than a coincidence that Adam knew the Company founders and despised them. He had to have a hand in the murders. The killings began around the same time Adam and Peter escaped from the Company. Okay, I may have believed Adam a little bit about Peter's survival. Peter's healing ability made me believe that much. Anyway, Adam didn't seem to be one of the most trustworthy people in the world. He expected me to come along with him and he was disappointed with the results.

As for Peter, I still was unsure whether he was alive or dead. Adam offered for me to see him, but I was stubborn. I didn't want to believe that I had been living a lie for a whole year—

"Hello! Earth to Danni!" Ava snapped her fingers in front of me.

I blinked. "I'm sorry. Were you saying something?"

"Yes. I was asking you if were getting a ride with Chad to the dance or if you wanted to carpool there with Cody and I?"

"Right. I'm pretty sure it'll be fine with Chad if we carpool. I just have to talk about it with him."

"Are you okay? You've been zoning out all day."

"I just have a lot on my mind."

"How is it going with Chad?"

"Tense. But what can I do? I had to tell Chad about what happened between Cole and me."

Ava sighed. "Senior year of high school and we're still dealing with the whole he said-she said drama."

"I never wanted any of this," I admitted. "I wanted to move on, but I didn't realize I was hurting people in the process."

"Cole wanted you to be happy. The last thing he would do was convince you otherwise."

"It's better this way then. All I do is hurt him while he wants me to be happy."

"Don't talk like that," she said. "You're not happy right now—something that Cole doesn't want to happen."

"But I'm making him unhappy in the process. Like I said, it's better this way."

"For you or for him?"

Before I could answer, Chad took seat beside me. "Hello ladies. How has your day been?"

"We're at school. How do you think our day has been?" I answered coyly.

"Very true."

"Okay, so for the dance," Ava spoke. "I was thinking that you, Danni, I and Cody could carpool over there."

"I don't know. I'm not really a fan of double dating."

"It's not a double date. I just thought that we could save time and gas if we used one car and then once we get to the dance we can go our separate ways."

"Seems fair."

Ava smiled. "Great, I'll just go tell Cody."

Ava jumped from her seat and left faster than we blinked.

"That was quick," Chad noted.

"Yeah, when she has her mind set on an idea she's determined to finish it."

"Reminds me of someone I know," he smirked towards me then it quickly faded into worried expression. "Are you okay?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that today?"

"Maybe because you seem a little disconnected from society—more than usual anyway."

"I just have a lot on my mind," I repeated.

"Like what?"

"Nothing," I said lamely.

"You just said that you had a lot on your mind."

I realized the flaw my plan to avoid the subject and mentally hit myself in the head. Chad was smarter than that. I had to say something to get him off of my case about what I was really thinking about.

"It's Nathan," I said. "He called last night."

"Really? What did he say?"

"He just asked if the house was still standing."

"Did he tell you where he was?"

"Nope. He told me that he would be home soon and that he's trying to make things right."

"Sounds like he's on the run from the government," he mused.

"I highly doubt that. Nathan honors the law more than anyone I've known."

"He's out doing something for sure."

I shrugged. "That's thing about Nathan: you never know what he's up to until it's too late."

"So there's nothing else bothering you?"

"Nope," I forced a smile. "Everything else is bearable."

"Great, so are you doing anything tonight?"

"Homework, but that doesn't really count."

"Do you want to hang out tonight? I'll grab a couple movies and get some take out. I promise I'll leave at an appropriate time."

I nodded. "Sure, I could use the company."

Translation for I didn't want to be left in the house alone after a four hundred year old man broke in claiming my dead brother was alive. It was that experience that pushed me to lock every door in the house and leave no window open.

I got up from my seat. "I'm going to get something to drink. Do you want anything?"

"I'll take a Pepsi."

I walked off to the hall without another glance at Chad. It was difficult to lie to him, but I couldn't tell him the truth just yet. It's not that I didn't trust him with my secret. It was bearing the secret that I feared for him.

Once I found the soda machine, I slide my cash inside pressing the appropriate soda buttons. The first soda rolled into the compartment, but the other bounced off of the other and rolled onto the floor. I went to get it, but it had already hit a pair of sneakers. Much to my dismay I recognized the sneakers. Before I could act, the person in the sneakers picked up the soda.

"Is this yours?" he asked politely as he handed it to me.

I smiled weakly at Cole. "Yeah, thanks."

It felt like talking to a stranger again. I didn't know what else to say so I began to walk off.

"Wait," he called.

I turned back to him expectantly. Cole opened his mouth, but he seemed to be at a loss for words as well. Finally, he spoke.

"You left your other soda in the machine," he reached in the machine and took out the Pepsi Chad requested.

Once again, I smiled awkwardly. "Thanks, again."

"So…how have you been?"

_You don't talk to me for a month and that's all you can say?_ I wanted to chant this out to Cole, but I knew that would be useless.

"Okay. How about you?" I responded.

"All right." He sighed. "I guess I could do better. Look, I'm sorry about what I did a month ago. I didn't handle the situation right and it didn't help you at all."

"You don't need to apologize, Cole. I'm the one who pushed you away."

"Because you're in a relationship already."

I shook my head. "Listen, this is the longest conversation we've had in a month. Can we not talk about this?"

"Okay…what are your plans this weekend?"

"I'm going to the dance."

"With Chad, I'm guessing," he added tightly.

Cole was still bothered by Chad, I could sense that much. "Disapprove all you want, Cole. I trust him when he said that nothing happened. If I can't trust him, I don't know how our relationship exists."

"I guess ours never did if you don't believe me."

His words kicked me in the stomach. "I didn't mean it like that. Even now, I trust you. You must have walked in at the wrong time or something."

"Like I said believe you want. More than anything I want you to be happy and if that's me out of your life, so be it."

"No, it's not. I want you in my life. You're the only one who knows who I am and I can't talk to anyone else about it because they're not you. I want you to be happy too, Cole. If I'm making you unhappy then feel free to break our friendship. Just know that I'm more than grateful for your support and I'll always love you."

I wiped the tears from my eyes before I walked towards the cafeteria once more without one glance to Cole. I know you're probably screaming at how stupid I am to let him go, but honestly felt this was the right decision. Did I still want Cole around? Yes, but if I couldn't figure out my feelings, I would be hurting him more than I ever wanted to and the worst part was that he would put up with it. So letting him go was the best I could do for him. Cole was a great guy. He would find another girl in no time and he'd be happy. End of story.

After school, I found myself walking aimlessly throughout the streets of New York. I wanted to get my mind off of what happened between Cole and me to be honest. If I went home, it would remind me of the various memories we had there and the constant fear of Adam coming back haunted me as well so resorted to walking around New York where there would be plenty of distractions. I walked through Central Park, caught a flash mob at the mall and relaxed by Central Park once again within two hours.

I knew I would have to go home soon. Chad promised to be there by six so I had two hours to kill. Then when I let my mind go astray, I thought of Adam's surprise visit the night before. He must have been determined to have me on his side if he broke into my house to do it. But I was still trying to find a reason to trust him. Not even my grandfather trusted him. Why? Then it hit me: Angela knew Adam. Maybe she had the answers I was looking for the whole time. A part of me wanted to run to the station and ask her this, but another knew that Angela wouldn't tell me the whole truth. Yet at the same time it would be the most information I've gotten for months.

That was the moment I decided to see my foster mother. She would tell me the truth one way or another. Besides she's been a prison cell for months. She'd want to talk to someone, right?

Surprisingly it wasn't that difficult to get a visit with Angela considering I was still a minor. But I assumed that because she still hadn't had her trial yet that she wasn't a convicted murderer yet. Besides she was still at the local jail, so anyone had access to a visit with her really. After I signed in, I waited for her in the seat the officer directed me to as they went to retrieve her. Before this, the closest I came to seeing a visitor's area for prisoners were in the movies. Now here I was waiting for my foster mother which of whom I would have never thought would be the one I would visit in jail. I glanced around at the other prisoners and their visitors. They were of the interesting variety to say the least. There were some with various tattoos, largely toned bodies—both men and women—and others just let themselves go.

Angela sat down in the seat opposite of me a few moments later with a police officer guiding her.

"Just let me know when either of you are done with the visit," he informed us.

We nodded and he walked off to the other side of the room. It was silent between the two of us for the first few moments. I was still deciding on how to start the conversation with the woman that never really cared for me.

"Well, this wasn't what I meant when I said to move on," Angela mused.

Her appearance was messier due to her time in prison. Her hair was up, but it was still slightly un-kept and there were bags resting under her eyes.

"It's not as easy as most people make it out to be," I quipped.

"So are you here because you can't get yourself out of the past because that's very concerning for someone your age?"

"No…not really anyway. It's not my past that I'm concerned about. It's yours and Arthur's and my grandfather's. You knew him, didn't you?"

Angela gave a small smile. "He could barely speak a word of English when I first met him. Who told you?"

"I was looking through old photos with Nathan and we found one with thirteen people in it including you, my grandfather and Arthur. It also had Matt Parkman's father, Daniel Linderman…how did you know all of these people? What was the connection?"

"Isn't it obvious? We were all special. We had a common interest to keep what we could do and what others could do a secret."

"The Company," I stated. "All of you started the Company, didn't you?"

"Like I said, we sought a way to keep what we were a secret. The Company was the solution."

"Did my mom know about this?"

"Ignacio did his best keep it from your mother. He wanted her to have a normal life."

"What about Elle Bishop?" I questioned too quickly.

Angela raised an eyebrow. "How do you know about Elle Bishop?"

"I know more than you think. Why was Elle Bishop taken into the Company at a young age while my grandfather made sure that my mother lived as normal as possible?"

"Elle's father is a piece of work, first of all. That was his decision alone to do that. Personally, I would never bring that upon my sons—even if their abilities manifested at a young age. It's a tragic story more than anything."

"But you would have brought that upon Claire," I scoffed. "If her dad didn't hide her as well as he did, she would have been an Elle Bishop."

"Where are you getting these ideas, Danielle? I don't remember speaking to you about this."

_As if you speak to me about anything else_. "I received a visit from someone last night. He said his name was Adam Monroe—a prisoner from the Company."

Angela's eyes grew wide. "Adam? He was in the house last night?"

"Yeah, he told me about how you just threw him in with the lions."

"What did you tell you?"

"He told me that the reason he came to you was save the world and you rejected it so you locked him up for it."

"No, that's not the entire truth. His idea of saving the world was killing it. We had to put a stop to it. Whatever else he told you had to be a lie."

"He wanted me to come with him—to help him."

"Luckily you had some sense," she muttered. "And hopefully you will continue to by staying away from him. Adam may seem genuine on the outside, but on the inside he harbors rage for anyone that's crossed him in his lifetime…including your grandfather. Ignacio trusted him at first just like the rest of us, but the minute he found out about Adam's true intentions, he and Kaito Nakamura were the ones who threw him in jail."

"If he was holding in that rage, then why didn't he…?"

"Kill you?" she finished. "It's okay to question that, Danielle. He's a schemer that's why. He would want you to suffer since Ignacio or your mother isn't around. Blood runs deep. I trust you will learn to remember that."

"So let me get this straight." I took in a deep breath. "Adam is a manipulative vengeful man that will say anything to get what he wants."

"Correct."

Peter isn't alive then. Adam was just saying that so he could carry out his revenge. The guilt that I woke up with that morning suddenly disappeared. I had made the right choice.

"Now that you know the truth, it's time for you to move on," Angela told me.

"I wish, but every time I try to, there's always a piece of the past that catches up."

"Well, for starters, this has to be the last time you come to visit me because the next time you come in with questions I won't answer them. Second, go to school. Trust me, it'll save you. Third, find a boy and a right boy at that."

"How do you know if he's the right one?" I said in a low voice.

"You'll know once he's accepted every part of you—not just the easy parts."

The officer approached our table before I could open my mouth. "I'm sorry. Visiting hours are over."

Angela smiled. "It's all right, we were just wrapping up. Goodbye, Danielle. Have a nice evening."

"Bye," was the only word I could choke out to her as the officer guided her out of the room.

I shocked at the conversation I had with my foster mother. I expected her to tell me half-truths, but instead she seemed to be open with the questions I asked her. I didn't completely trust Angela, but I trusted her more than Adam. That had to be something.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! Again, I'm sorry for the late update. I just barely finished midterms and I still have a whole week of school before spring break. The good news is I got into film school! In regards to the story, there are four chapters left this season. Hang on, things generally get worse before they can get better.<p>

~ShatteredxDreams411


	33. Barefoot Cinderella

Barefoot Cinderella

There is patience and hesitation to every action made in life. Simple and rash decisions are a hit or miss. They will either benefit you or ruin you. But with decisions thought out and well executed, they were more likely to be beneficial. These were the exact words I repeated to myself as my mouse hovered over the SEND button for my application for NYU. I finished the application a few days before, but it was matter of actually sending it that was troubling me.

What if I didn't get in? What was the point in paying for the application and even trying if I was enviably going to fail? I knew I had to try though. NYU was a long shot—that was certain—yet it was the one school I really wanted to go to. Sure, I applied to others just in case, but this would be the acceptance letter that I would jump around for like in movies. I took in a deep breath and before I gave it a second thought, I hit SEND. I let out a sigh. It was in fate's hands now—or in this case, the admission's office.

I was relieved more than anything now. College was out of the way which left the rest of senior year to worry about. Since Angela's visit, I've tried to follow her advice to return to as normal of a life as I could. I spent as much time as I could with Chad and went dress shopping with Ava. I was disappointed that Cole couldn't be a part of that, but as I said before, it was the best for him. Saturday had finally come and all I worried about was the dance that night. It seemed so unusual for me. Only a few days ago I was worried about the man that broke into my house…now that seemed like a distant memory. I was finally getting the normal life I wanted…yet some part of me still felt empty.

_Buzz!_ My phone tore me from my thoughts as I went to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey, Danni. How are you?" Matt's voice answered.

"I could be better, but who cares about that? How are you? How's Molly?"

"I'm great," he said happily. "Molly's fine. I was able to get her out on my own and trap my dad in the process."

"I'm going to pretend for five minutes that sounded normal and reply with: that's great! So Molly's okay now?"

"Didn't you hear? I'm amazing!" an unmistakable light voice chimed.

I smiled. "That's awesome, Molly. No more nightmares?"

"It was like they were never there. I missed sleeping."

"Funny, coming from a person who was in coma for a few weeks."

"So? You're a teenager. Is the stereotype of your kind never getting sleep?"

"Touché. Hopefully I get to see you soon."

"What about tonight?"

"I can't," I said. "I have a dance to get to."

"Do you have a date?"

"Yep, my boyfriend."

Luckily Molly and I were just talking over the phone because when I said that statement my smile faded. Something felt different between Chad and I since my encounter with Cole. It just didn't feel right anymore.

"It's Cole, isn't it?" she asked eagerly.

"No," I replied with a lump in my throat. "His name is Chad."

"Oh. Is Cole going to the dance with someone else?"

The thought hadn't occurred to me. I knew I was letting Cole move on, but I forgot about the part where he would find someone else. "I don't know."

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine."

There was mumbling on the other line until I heard Matt's voice again. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing to complain about," I muttered. "I'll be fine."

"Is something going on between you and Cole?"

"Not anymore." I paused. "Listen, I have to start getting ready. Tell Molly I said bye and call me whenever you need me to babysit."

"All right, take care, Danni."

"You too, Matt."

I took in a deep breath. I tried to reassure myself that Cole was better off without me, but still felt empty without him. When I came home that day I realized that I was still wearing the locket he gave me on my sixteenth birthday. I wanted to run back to him and give it back, but I knew it would only cause pain for the both of us. Now the necklace only reminded me of what once was. All the same though, I still found myself wearing it. Since Sylar's attempt to kill me in my history classroom, I found security with it. As a cliché way of putting it, you could say it was my burden to bear.

_Knock, knock_.

I jumped from my seat and headed to the door. I cautiously approached the door, afraid it might be Adam again, but the shape from the window indicated that the person at the door was female. I opened the door and found Ava standing there with what seemed be her dress under plastic wrapping.

"Ava, what are you doing here?" I asked.

She smiled as she invited herself inside. "I'm here to make sure you go to this dance."

"I thought we were over the whole moving on ordeal."

"It's a new ordeal that I'm worried about. Dylan told me that Cole said you broke up your friendship because you thought you weren't good enough for him."

"And now you think I'm going off the deep end," I smirked. "Really, Ava it's for the best. You said it yourself: it was killing him. I had to do something."

"You didn't have to drop him like a fly." Ava sighed. "Anyway, I'm just here to make sure you're okay…and I thought since I'm a multi-tasker that I could lecture you and get ready for the dance at the same time."

I didn't bother arguing with her. Once her mind was made up, there was nothing anyone could do to stop her. I guided her up to my room where we began to get ready for the dance. We worked on each other's hair first. I was surprised that Ava was able to find a nice hairstyle for mine. I found myself fighting with it whenever I had to put my hair up in a bun for dance recitals because of how thick it was. Ava was able to improvise luckily. She curled my hair and pulled my hair into a side ponytail. As for Ava's (with the help of a hair magazine) I curled her wavy hair as well except I let the locks of her hair fall to her shoulders and bobby-pinned her bangs to the side. The makeup was the same story. I don't think you want to hear about that.

Soon after, we began to put on our dresses. Ava and I went shopping together for dresses so there were no surprises. I picked out a spaghetti strap short dress that went just above my knees. It was light blue as my attempt to go with the winter theme of the dance and sparkled as it hit the light. Ava's dress was a little longer than mine. Her dress was a strapless lavender dress that shimmered as she moved in it. Once we were ready, we made our way downstairs to wait for our dates.

Ava took out her camera from her purse. "Photo time!"

I shook my head. "Not for me."

"C'mon, this is one of the only times I ever to see you in a dress."

"I never look good in pictures though."

"Don't you want to look back and show your kids how hot you looked in high school?"

"What if I don't want kids?"

"Well, then this is for my records. Smile or not."

Again, I didn't bother to argue with her. I posed and smiled as the camera flashed. We took a few more together before someone came at the door.

Ava followed me as I went to answer the door. "Did you tell Cody to meet you here?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I'm a multi-tasker, remember?"

I opened the door to find Cody as well as Chad standing there. Personally, I never really spent that much time with Cody. Sure he was in a couple of my classes, but we never shared a full conversation. All I knew about him was what I heard from Ava. He was the lead singer of a garage band and he was a Caucasian with short brown hair. Both Chad and Cody were dressed in formal suits.

Cody smiled. "Wow, Ava you look great."

Ava blushed. "Thanks."

"You look beautiful, Danni," Chad leaned in and gave me a peck on my cheek.

"Thank you," I muttered trying to fight back a blush.

"So, let's this show on the road."

All of us piled into Cody's car and drove off to the school. By the time we got there, many students were lining up to enter the gym. We waited in line shortly before turning in our dance tickets. With the lights and the music blaring, the gym took on a different character than it did during the school day. The snowflakes hung from the ceiling, the tables were sprinkled with artificial snow and the dance floor lit up with winter colors.

Chad offered his hand to me. "Would you like to have this dance?"

"I would be delighted," I took his hand as he led me to the dance floor.

I glanced over to say something to Ava, but she and Cody had disappeared. I figured they were spending time with each other so I didn't worry about it. It was a dance anyway. This was the one chance to make me forget Adam, Cole and anything to do with what I was.

It was then that I realized that I hadn't used my power in a long time. The situation never called for it, I guess. Well, except for the time when Chad couldn't control his emotions in the heat of the moment.

I quickly shook those thoughts away. Again, those thoughts weren't the time for that. All I needed to do was dance with my boyfriend. The DJ started out with high energy songs so we danced to the beat as much as we could. Everyone danced in close and stayed in sync with the high energy beats. Chad pulled me into him on various occasions during the song as he did that day in the theatre. But it didn't feel as romantic as it once did.

"Hey, come on, what's wrong?" he asked over the music.

"What do you mean?" I quirked an eyebrow.

"Something's been eating you up all week. Is it Cole?"

"I told you. I'm over it. I let him go."

"That doesn't mean you didn't feel anything for him."

"He's my friend. Cole was the one who was there when my brother died and one of the only people that I trust."

I felt his grip tense on my hand. "Why let him go then?"

"Because he's a better person than I'll ever be."

"Everything will fall in place, I promise."

"Can we stop for a few minutes? With dance rehearsal five days a week, it tends to tire me out by the weekend."

I knew the excuse was lame, but I couldn't handle talking about this with Chad. He seemed all too pleased to find out that Cole was no longer my friend. My self-estrangement from Cole didn't improve my relationship with Chad. Some part of the relationship didn't seem right anymore and I couldn't figure out what exactly it was.

Chad led me to a table and then stopped. "I'm sorry; this is going to make me feel like a real jerk. I promised my friends I would say hi to them and I know it would be a little awkward for you since you don't know them so would I mind if I left you alone for a little bit?"

"You've met my friends," I countered. "Besides it's always going to be awkward."

"It'll be really quick, I promise."

"You've been making a lot of promises tonight. Regardless, I don't want to be the overly protective girlfriend so I'll let you have your space."

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. "You're the best. I'll be back before you know it."

I pulled out a chair and sat at the table as I watched Chad walk through the dance floor. I didn't stay there the whole time though. There would be times that I would go talk to a couple of friends from dance team or when I was hungry enough to get refreshments from the table. I went back to the table, but Chad wasn't there. I waited at the table once again listening to the music. I started to get worried about Chad. Did he forget that he was on a date with his girlfriend?

I wasn't trying to cry for attention. I was only concerned to Chad's wellbeing. I saw Ava and Cody approaching me in smiles.

I smiled at them. "Hey guys, how's your dance going?"

"Great," said Ava. "Cody is surprisingly a good dancer."

"You sound so astounded when you say that," Cody teased Ava.

"I knew were a great singer and I just didn't expect you to dance so well."

"I would think about enlisting in latest boy band," I joked.

"Ha ha," he responded sarcastically. "You're funny."

"Where's Chad?" Ava asked.

"He went to say hi to his friends," I answered. "Although I think they're sharing their life stories at this point."

"How long have you been here?"

"Why does that matter?"

"That long, huh? If you want to hang out with us, that's fine."

I shook my head. "No, it's okay. You go have fun with your date."

"All right. The offer still stands though."

Ava led Cody to the dance floor.

More time passed as I waited for Chad. I was tempted to get up and look for him, but that seemed difficult with hundreds to thousands of students cramming inside of one gym. I thought about calling him at one point. But then I realized I left my phone at the coat check. So my only option was to sit at the table regardless or not if I was waiting for Chad anymore.

"Danni."

I looked up from my hands expecting to see Chad. My heart dropped when I realized I was wrong. It was Cole.

"Cole?" I spoke. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming."

"I didn't exactly say if I was coming or not," he gave a weak smile.

"Right. I knew that."

"So where's Chad?"

"He's coming," I mumbled as I looked away from him. He was the one person that could see through my lies with one look into my eyes. I couldn't give him the satisfaction.

"Are you okay?"

See?

"There are a lot of things on my mind," I explained. "So my feelings are hard to determine."

"Like what?"

"Everything."

"That is a lot."

Finally all of the energetic songs winded down into a slow song. I watched as all of the couples drew closer to each other in light of the romantic mood of the song.

My heart leaped when I saw Cole hold out his hand to me. "Would you like to dance?"

"And how does this help my current situation?" I questioned.

"Dancing has always been your escape from life, why not now?"

"Good point."

I considered his offer. I knew I would be wrong to accept his offer to dance, but I missed him. Seeing him at the dance made me feel whole again. It wasn't the same feeling as before though. It was different.

I took his hand and he smiled. He led me to the dance floor and placed his hands on my waist as I wrapped my arms around his neck. We swayed to the music silently until I spoke again.

"Thank you," I said. "You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to," he corrected.

"I don't get it, Cole. I literally ended our friendship. Why are you doing this?"

"I didn't exactly agree with your argument. You think you're not good enough for me. I think it's the opposite." He lowered his voice. "You're the one who can control air. How do you think that makes me feel?"

"Power is nothing compared to character. You're an amazing person, Cole. I'm not. That's the bottom line."

"Well did you ever think about how I feel?"

"You're better—"

"No, I need you to listen to me because these next few words are the most selfish words I'm ever going to say. I don't want you out of my life. I want to be a part of your life in any way that I can. You are the most beautiful person I have ever met. You will stick your neck out for the people you love. You're strong. You're brave. But most of all, I can't imagine my life without you. Danni, I'm in love with you."

I almost stopped dancing at his words. I could feel his strong emotions radiate as he stared at me—waiting for me to react. I didn't know how to react. Something inside of me started to feel different towards Cole. My heart fluttered as I thought about the way he was looking at me. I thought back to the times I had this feeling. I passed it off as nothing, but now I realized the reason Chad became jealous. Chad wouldn't have minded if the feelings were one-sided. He and many others noticed the way I acted around Cole before I did.

With Chad, I had to hide who I was because he wouldn't understand. Cole, on the other hand, knew who I was. He knew I would hear him out that night. He supported me through Peter's death not because he had to but because he wanted to. I felt something with Cole that I would never feel with Chad. For the first time, it didn't feel so bad that my best friend was in love with me.

Cole's face leaned into mine, brushing his lips against mine. I felt the strong urge to kiss him, but then I remembered one thing. I was still dating Chad. I wanted to kiss Cole, but what would that say about me?

"Cole, I can't," I whispered. "Not while I'm dating Chad."

He gazed into my eyes. "Do you love him?"

Tears welled into my eyes. "I don't know."

"Do you love me?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry, I have to go."

I pulled away from Cole and ran as fast as I could in my heels. I heard Cole calling my name, but I ignored it. I wanted to be alone. I didn't want to think. The truth was I was in love with Cole. And that scared me more than anything.

I sprinted out of the gym and went into the dark empty hallways. I slowed to a walk as I heard moans at the end of the hall. I walked mindlessly until I turned the corner. The hall was dark, but the glowing light of the moon shined upon the sight my eyes laid on. The moans I heard were the sounds of a couple making out, but that's not why I was staring. I recognized both of the figures as they embraced each other passionately. One with flowing blond hair and the other with green eyes.

"Chad? Brooke?" My voice strained as it echoed throughout the hall.

Both of them pulled away from each other hastily. Brooke smirked at me as if she won while Chad looked troubled like a young boy caught in a troublesome act. I didn't know how to feel anymore. Not a few minutes ago, I felt elated and now I felt betrayed. Betrayed and stupid.

"Danni, this isn't what it looks like," Chad spoke fast.

"You're seriously saying that?" I glared. "How long has this been going on?"

"It was just tonight."

"A month," Brooke answered. "We were together even before that. Sorry to break it to you this way."

"Why didn't you even mention her?" I questioned, tears streaming down my face.

"I didn't know how to tell you," he said. "She just snuck up on me one day and one thing led to another."

"And you had to this while we were still dating?"

"I didn't know who to choose."

"That's bull, Chad," I spat. "If you ever felt anything for me, you wouldn't be fooling around with her. What was with your hostility towards Cole if you obviously had feelings for Brooke then?"

"Because I did feel something for you then. After he kissed you, I realized that you were going to fall for him sooner or later."

"So you decided to move on without properly breaking up with me."

"It's not my fault. You're the one who cheated on me first."

Anger boiled up within me. "I didn't get into a relationship with Cole because some part of me still felt for you. I cared about you and you were stabbing me in the back the whole time. Does that mean anything to you?"

I was met with silence. It spoke out his answer. My feelings meant nothing to him.

"I can't believe I chose you over Cole," I exasperated. "You were the one person who helped me move on after my brother's death. You made me forget who I was and what I'm capable of. Cole warned me about you and I didn't listen."

"Danni, we can work something out," Chad said out of desperation. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

"No. We're done. Have a good life."

I turned to storm away from them, but I felt a hand grip my arm. I don't know what happened then. My emotions were all over the place that night. The control I once had over my power was weakened. I knew it was Chad that grabbed my arm. The anger and betrayal I felt towards him suddenly turned into rage.

I pulled out of his grasp and turned to him. "Don't touch me!"

The wind wisped around me. I didn't care though. All I wanted to see was Chad suffer. The wind grew stronger as I felt myself lift off of the ground. With one snap of my wrist, I sent Chad flying backwards through the hall. He landed roughly against a wall of lockers. Brooke, on the other hand, collapsed at the force of the wind, fainting in the process.

"Danni!" I heard a familiar voice shout my name.

I looked down to see Cole just below me.

"You need to stop," he took my hand.

That's when I finally came to my senses. I was showcasing my powers in a way that it should never be used to do: execute revenge. The winds slowed down around me as my feet lowered back to the ground.

Cole embraced me. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I lost control," I sighed. "You were right about everything. I'm sorry."

"Is this the secret you were trying to keep from me?" I heard Chad question in disbelief.

Chad got to his feet and began limping towards us. "What are you?"

"She's special," Cole answered.

"No. She's a freak. I'm not even sure she's human anymore."

I felt a lump in my throat. It was bad enough that I caught Chad cheating on me. Now he was taking my heart and ripping it into shreds. My fears that he would run away from me due to my powers were coming true.

"I'm more human than you ever will be," I snapped. "I was torn apart when I saw you with Brooke, and you? You just worried about getting caught!"

"Well enjoy your last night of freedom. This is something the police would be interested in considering the stunt you just pulled with me."

"And how are you going to prove that?" Cole sneered at him. "You saw a girl flying? That's a believable story and with the alcohol in your breath the police will have a good laugh."

Chad was silent at that.

"Chad, listen, I'm sorry I threw you to that wall, but you can't tell anybody," I quietly begged. "Please. No one is ready to hear about this yet."

"And what exactly is stopping me from telling anyone?" he challenged. "I mean I don't have the proof now, but what about later when you slip up again?"

"Because you owe me." He scoffed at that so I thought of a better solution. "Because I know a man who can erase that memory from your head. His partner is only a phone call away actually. So you might as well enjoy your last night of having all of your memories intact."

His smug faded into a blank gaze. I hoped the threat was enough to keep this mouth shut. I couldn't keep my secret with Chad trying to catch some footage of me flying.

"Fine," Chad said. "I'll keep your little secret. And not for you. I would hate for people to find out I was thrown across the room by my ex."

"And Brooke can't know anything about this either," I told him.

"Just say she was so buzzed from the alcohol that she fainted," Cole suggested.

Chad nodded. "Got it. I guess this is it then."

"And if you ever hurt her again, I will come find you."

Chad didn't say anything as he scooped Brooke into his arms and walked down the hallway. I wiped the tears from my eyes and turned to Cole.

"Thank you," I said to him in a low voice.

"Anytime," he smiled.

My heart fluttered when he beamed at me. His presence made everything better all of the sudden. Then I remembered that I abandoned him for Chad because I didn't believe him about Chad's unfaithfulness. Cole was the one who helped me when I was trying to ignore him. Yet all the same, Cole was in love with me. I loved him too, but I didn't deserve him. He deserved someone better than me—not to so complicated, I mean. As much as it pained me to do it, I had to let him go. Again.

"Cole, we can't be together."

"We can't or you won't?" he crossed his arms.

"You'll find someone. Someone better than me."

"Stop saying that. You keep saying that you're not good enough for me, but I can't think of anybody else better. I love you and you can't change that."

"I didn't listen to you," I shook my head. "You were trying to help me, but I pushed you away."

"The only thing that could keep me away is if you said you didn't love me. But you're not going to say that. Are you?"

I wanted to say I didn't love him and he might as well give up all hope for me, but the words wouldn't come out. I couldn't hurt him anymore than I had.

"I need space," I admitted. "I just broke up with my boyfriend. I need to think about this."

"Danni," Cole stopped me.

I turned to him, but the minute I did, his lips were pressed to mine. I was still for a moment until I realized that I wanted more. I deepened the kiss running my fingers through his short blond hair. It was magical. His heart beat against mine as he wrapped his arms around me. I was at peace for once. But I came back to my senses, I had to stop this. I was supposed to let him go.

I pulled away from him. "I have to go. I'm sorry."

I ran from him as he called after me. I heard his footsteps behind me and realized the disadvantage I was at while I was in my heels. I quickly slipped them off and continued to run barefoot. Once I made it outside of the school, I flew up into the night leaving the school behind me.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! I'm a million times sorry for not updating for so long. College is eating up my life as we speak! The good news is that the semester ends in three weeks so I'll be able to update soonish after that. I know I'm cruel to leave you on yet another cliff hanger, but I need to find time to write again. Leave a review and tell me what you think!<p>

~ShatteredxDreams411


	34. Regrets

Regrets

I woke up in my dress and makeup the next morning. When I got home from the dance, I couldn't stop crying from the strong emotions I was feeling that night. I could have cared less if I was ready for bed or not at that particular moment. I reminded myself what happened the night before.

Cole danced with me. I realized I was in love with him. I caught Chad cheating on me with Brooke. I threw him across the room. He threatened to expose me. Cole helped me and Chad promised to keep my secret. Then Cole kissed me and I kissed him back.

This is why I don't go to dances. Too much drama. But that was the least I my problems. I kissed Cole back. My attempt to let him go failed. Now that he knew I had feelings for him, he would never give up. I put those thoughts away for a moment as I went to clean up.

When I finished taking a shower and put on a fresh pair of clothes, I heard someone at the door. I hurried down the stairs and looked into the porthole of the door. It was Ava.

I opened the door. "Hey, Ava. What are you doing here?"

She walked inside without an invitation to do so. "Shut it! I'm here to ask the questions. Where the hell did you go last night? Cody and I searched for you everywhere! We tried calling you, but you left your phone at the coat check and then when we saw Chad driving off in somebody else's car, we thought something happened to you. I thought you were in trouble for Christ's sake!"

"Hello, how's your morning?" I smiled.

"Answer the questions, Petrelli," she looked at me venomously.

"I caught Chad cheating on me with Brooke," I admitted.

"Oh."

"And before that, Cole danced with me and told me that he loved me."

"Oh."

"I panicked and that's when I saw Chad with Brooke. I broke up with him. Cole helped me and then he kissed me and I kissed him."

"Well, you've had quite a night," she smirked. "So is it safe to say that you and Cole are officially dating?"

"No."

"And why not? He likes you and you obviously like him. What's the problem?"

"Me," I rose my voice. "I was the one who chose Chad over Cole when Chad was the guilty party. He deserves better than me. I'll I'm going to do is hurt him."

"Oh, come on! Are you seriously going to pretend that is a legitimate reason?"

"It's not pretending."

"You're scared," she realized. "You love him too and you're afraid."

"What am I supposed to do? I was attracted to Chad, but I never loved him. Cole's different. I can't stop thinking about him, I want to kiss him and my heart goes a thousand miles per hour when I see him nowadays. What's wrong with me?"

"I know this may be new to your emo stereotype emotions, but you're in love and you have it bad."

"I can't start caring for him this way because if I do, I'm going to get hurt. I loved my mom and Peter and look where that got them."

Ava patted my back. "You have to stop thinking like that. Remember what I said when I told you to go for Chad?"

"Not very good advice considering what happened." Ava threw me a scowl. "To be selfish for once."

"Exactly. You love him. He loves you. That should be enough of a reason to go after him."

"I literally ran from him after we kissed. I don't think he'll give me a chance."

"He waited five years for you to come around. I think he's willing to wait a few more hours. Speaking of." Ava pulled out the small purse I brought to the dance out of her bag. "Your phone will not stop buzzing. I think we both know who that is."

I took the purse from her. "Thank you—for everything. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"You don't need to do that."

"Really, I mean it. I know we're not as close as we used to be, but I hope we can be again. At least before we go off to college."

"We already are. And if the situation was reverse, you'd be there for me. That's what real friendship is."

"I know. I just wanted you to know how grateful I am."

"You're welcome then." Ava pulled me into an embrace. "So am I going to be the maid of honor in your wedding?"

"Really, Ava?" I pulled away.

"What? It could happen."

"The maid of honor or the wedding?"

"I'll get back to you on that." She reached into her pocket and looked at her phone. "Wow, bad timing. I've got to go. My cousins are coming into town and my mom wants me to help her clean the house before they get there."

"It's cool. I'll see you at school on Monday then?"

"You bet. I'll see you then."

Ava walked out the front door shutting it behind her. I locked the door and looked at my phone. Thirty messages from Cole. All of them voicemails. I sat on the couch in the living room and pressed the phone to my ear as I began to hear Cole's messages.

"Hey, Danni, I'm sorry I was a little forward with you back there," the first message began, "But we need to talk."

"Danni, where are you? Ava is looking for you."

"I know this may be the fifteenth message—not that I'm keeping count of course—but I really want to hear your voice right now. Call me back please."

"This is the last message for the night, I promise. Telling you that I was in love with you took a lot from me. Even more so than acting in front of hundreds of people. But do you know how I knew it was worth it? You kissed me back to tonight which means there's a chance for us. I'm not giving up on you. I love you."

All of the messages said the same thing: "Call me," "Did I do something wrong?" or "I love you." Every time he muttered those three words, I still felt light inside. I wanted to call him back, but this wasn't an issue to discuss over the phone and my fear still got the better of me. What if we broke up? What would that do to our friendship? Ava's words helped, but I still needed a little more time to think. I jumped when my phone buzzed in my hand.

I picked it up without looking at the caller ID. "Cole?"

"No," the other voice answered awkwardly. "This is Mohinder."

"Oh, hey Doc. What's up?"

"I was hoping that you could watch Molly tonight and take her to school tomorrow morning. I have to go to New Orleans on an errand and Matt is doing some side work elsewhere."

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll just bring my toothbrush. When do you want me over?"

"Within the hour would be great."

"Wow, you're in a hurry," I mused.

"It's urgent. I'll pay you extra for the time."

"I'll be there as fast as I can."

"Thank you."

Mohinder ended the call first before I could say a proper goodbye. As I said before, Mohinder and I could be in the same room together but when it came to a conversation, it was all business to him. I sighed. The call to Cole would have to wait.

I packed the necessities into my backpack along with a few homework assignments that were due the next day. I started to walk when I realized that I didn't have a car. I knew Cole had his jeep, but I didn't want to talk to him at that moment. It would take at least an hour to get from Manhattan to Brooklyn on the bus and I only had a half hour to get to work on time.

The solution was simple really, but I was having trouble with the idea of actually going through with it. Flight is the fastest form of transportation and I was it. If I flew, it would only take me a few minutes compared to an hour. _I might as well since I'm on a roll with my powers._ Once I was outside of the house, I snuck into the backyard making sure no one was around to see me. Luckily no one was in the neighborhood at the time. I took the time I had and jumped into the air.

Flying again was just like riding a bike. You never forgot how to do it or what it felt like to feel the wind in your hair. I looked down for the familiar Brooklyn Bridge and the apartment buildings that followed after it. I flew through the sky fast enough so that no walking bystander could spot a body in the sky in time to register the actual figure. When I found the apartment building, I quickly slipped in the alleyway in between the two buildings landing on my feet.

I ran up the stairs inside the building up to Matt and Mohinder's apartment. I knocked on the door once and Mohinder swung the door open.

"I'm sorry if I'm late," I said breathlessly as I entered the apartment. "I ended up running the rest of the way because the bus broke down."

"You're right on time actually. Where's Cole? I tried calling him, but only got his inbox."

"He couldn't make it. He had some family issues to take care of."

"I see." Mohinder gathered all of his things. "Well, Molly's in her room finishing up her homework. There's leftover food in the fridge that you are more than welcome to help yourselves to and call me if there's any problems."

"I highly doubt that will happen with Molly's nightmares gone." Mohinder gave me a confused look. "Matt filled me in. By the way, sending her to the Company was an idiot move on your part."

"I didn't know what to do. It was the only solution I could come up with."

"At least she's fine and she's home. Molly needs to be as normal as possible."

"I agree, but I think her chance for a normal life went away when she saw Sylar kill her parents."

"There's no shame in trying. As for tonight though, Molly is in good hands. Can I ask you something really quick?"

"Sure."

"We barely met months ago. How were you and Matt able to trust me to watch Molly?"

"You gave us no reason not to trust you. We were new parents, really and you were the only person we could think of that needed a minimum wage job and would watch over Molly."

"Fair enough."

"Danni!"

I winced as Molly embraced my waist. "Hey, Molly."

"I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

"Well you did go to hell and back."

"Danni," Mohinder hissed.

I shrugged. "She's going to hear it anyway. Besides, I highly doubt she'll be cursing like a sailor anytime soon."

He shook his head. "I need to catch my cab now. Molly, be good okay? Don't give Danni any trouble."

Molly went to embrace Mohinder. "I won't. I'll miss you."

"I'll be back soon. I promise." Mohinder looked to me. "Have a good night."

I nodded as he turned to leave the apartment.

Molly turned back to me with a smile on her face. "What movie do you want to watch tonight?"

"You choose this time."

Molly pulled me over to the living room where she put in the movie of her choice. We spoke during the movie about Molly's recent school adventures. She was the first fifth grader I met that was enthusiastic to go to school for once. The nightmares were gone and she was the happy little girl I remember.

"What about you, Danni?" she asked. "What's been going on with you?"

"Not much. Just school and dance rehearsals. Nothing special," I said.

"Oh come on, I heard your voice when I mentioned Cole's name yesterday. Something has to be going on. Besides, where is he?"

"I don't know to be honest. Anyway, I don't think you want to hear me whine about my life at the moment."

"You can give me the short version," she begged eagerly.

"Fine, but you're going to learn a valuable lesson from this: don't ever fall for a boy to the point where you're completely blind."

"That's easy. Boys like me anyway."

I laughed. "Okay, a few years from now you need to give me a call about that. Anyway, there was this boy. I had a huge crush on him and I started to date him. Then a friend of mine admitted that he didn't like that because he liked me. I chose the boy over my friend and the boy…was caught kissing another girl. My friend recently told me that he loved me and I love him too but I can't seem to say it to him. So that's what I've been up to."

"I knew it!" She beamed. "You and Cole were meant to be!"

"Slow down, Kid. I don't think we're going to get together."

"Why not?"

"I've hurt him. I'm a bad friend and I'll continue to be a horrible friend. I don't deserve him."

"If he were a true friend and if really loved you, he would come back anyway. Just wait and see."

I smiled. "We'll just have to wait then."

Molly fell asleep after the movie ended. I carried her to her bed and tucked her in. I still believed she was a smart girl for her age despite the traumatic experiences in her life. Somehow she was able to brighten the room with her positive outlook on life. After I left her room, I went to start a reading assignment. I heard a knock at the door when I began digging through my backpack. I looked at the clock. It was almost ten. Who would be visiting at this time? I figured Matt came home early or Cole heard Mohinder's message about babysitting Molly. The knock came again and I went to answer it.

I really didn't know what to expect the minute I answered the door. I thought it could be a late night salesman or a kid trying to be funny with us. I was so wrong. I don't think I've ever been so wrong in my life because when I opened the door I saw something I never thought I'd see again. For a moment I thought I was dreaming—having one of my nightmares again. But if I was I would never feel the heat rush from my face. My true fears were coming to life once again.

The boogeyman tilted his head to the side, smirking at me. "Danielle. What a pleasant surprise."

"Sylar," I choked out.

My troubles were far from over now.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! Sorry for the late update. I had finals and then I had juggle packing...yeah it's an adventure. Anyway, yeah, Sylar is back in the game and Danni probably going to wish she had her boy problems again. The next chapter should be up soonish depending on if I get a job this summer and if I can get my lazy self out of bed to write. Tell me what you think and we will return with Danni's antics.<p>

~ShatteredxDreams411


	35. Confessions

Confessions

I was utterly speechless. The man I believed to be dead was standing right before my eyes. My mouth fell open ready to speak, but no words came out. The night at Kirby Plaza came back to me in a clear memory. I was helping Cole to a safe spot when I spotted Hiro Nakamura stab a sword into Sylar's chest. I didn't understand it. Other than Claire, there was no possibility for any normal human being to survive that. But Sylar wasn't exactly normal.

I tried to shut the door in his face, but he caught it just before it close completely.

"Manners, Danielle," he taunted. "Didn't your parents tell you it's rude to slam the door? Oh right, you don't have any."

"What are you doing here?" I snarled. "How are you here?"

"I can see I've been missed."

"Gabriel?" a woman of Hispanic descent appeared next to Sylar. "Is Doctor Suresh here?"

Sylar smiled pleasantly towards the woman. "No, but we caught the house sitter." He gestured towards me. "Danni, this is Maya. Maya, this is a friend of Doctor Suresh."

Maya held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Danni."

I hesitantly took her hand. "Yeah. I'm still a little confused as to why you're here."

"We came looking for Dr. Suresh. I need help with my problem."

"Problem?"

"Maya's special, Danni," Sylar said in thickly sweet voice. "But it's hurt people in the process. She came here for a cure."

"And there you were to lead the way," I sneered. "What a coincidence."

"Well since Mohinder isn't here right now, we might as well wait for him. So if you could step aside, Danielle."

I ignored him as I stood my ground.

"Sorry, Maya. She's hesitant to trust strangers. Let me talk to her for a couple of minutes."

Sylar pushed his way past me and shut the door behind him. He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him.

"I'm going to make this very simple, Danielle. You are going to let us in and pretend that nothing is wrong."

"And why am I going to do that?" I questioned.

"Danni?" Molly's voice called. "Danni, is someone at the door?"

Sylar smirked at me as he began to stalk towards Molly's room. I gripped Sylar's arm. "No, Molly. It was just one of the neighbors looking for Matt."

"Okay, goodnight."

"Night."

Sylar turned to me. "Babysitting? I didn't think it was your style."

"Don't touch her."

"I won't…as long as you let Maya and I wait here tonight for Mohinder and you don't go anywhere to spread that big mouth of yours."

I clearly didn't have a choice. It was either Sylar killing Molly and I or sparing our lives making us into hostages in the process.

"Fine," I muttered.

Sylar moved past me and opened the door for Maya to get in. "Sorry about the delay. She can be stubborn."

"It's okay, I understand," Maya said. "I've been in the same position for months. Thank you, Danni."

"Don't thank me," I said bitterly.

Maya quirked an eyebrow as if she was confused at my hostility. Didn't she understand that she was fraternizing with the enemy? That's when I realized how different Sylar was around Maya. He was unnaturally sweet and kind. Maya called him Gabriel as well. I remembered the reason why she wanted to see Mohinder: to fix her "problem." She was special and Sylar lied to her about a cure. But if wanted to kill her, why would he be waiting this long?

"Why don't you put all of our things in the guest bedroom down the hall while I have a private chat with Danni?" Sylar whispered to Maya.

"Sure," she smiled and walked down the hall.

When the door closed behind Maya, Sylar faced me. "You're not doing so well on the pretending nothing is wrong part."

"You're supposed to be dead," I stated.

"As your brother once said: 'It didn't take.'"

"But how?"

"A kind woman revived me. I woke up a couple months ago, thanked her and killed her."

"What about Maya? What does she have to do with this?"

"She's special, of course," he answered. "Once I get my powers back, she'll be gone."

"Your powers are gone?" I narrowed my eyes. "Did that nice woman happen to wash the evil out of you?"

"That's the purpose why I'm here. Mohinder has to have an answer. But you are not going to tell Maya any of this unless you want Molly to suffer your consequences. Understood?"

"What exactly stops me here?" I challenged. "For once, I'm the one with powers."

"Powers or not. I'm still capable of hurting everyone in this apartment. What do you think I did before I was able to move things around with my mind?" Sylar pulled out a semi-automatic gun from his pocket. "Besides I don't think you'll be fast enough to out-run a bullet with Molly in your arms. Do you?"

I was fortunate enough not to have gun ever aimed in my direction, but for this situation I didn't have a clue if I was fast enough to run from a series of gunshots without earning a wound and there was no way I was going to risk Molly's life to test that.

Sylar continued. "So if you want to run now, by all means, go. But I can't guarantee Molly's safety. Stay, keep your mouth shut, and Molly gets a good night's sleep. Go, and blab your big mouth, well we're going to have issues. Understood?"

I didn't have the heart to leave Molly in this. I was going to stay and protect her as much as I could. Sylar might have been powerless, but he was still capable of hurting people.

"Yes," I grumbled.

He placed the gun back in his pocket. "So where is the mad scientist?"

"He had an assignment in New Orleans. He's probably more than halfway to the airport by now."

"Well that won't do. I'll just have to give him a call."

"Give who a call?" Maya appeared in the room.

"Mohinder. He's out, but after a call from me he'll come right back." He took the home phone and walked towards Molly's room.

"Don't you dare go in there!" I shouted too quickly.

Sylar smiled. "Don't worry, I won't wake her."

I stayed silent as Sylar walked into Molly's room, leaving the door slightly cracked. All I could think about was Molly screaming at the man who killed her parents. Already, I was failing my task to protect her.

"Do you live here?" Maya asked me.

"No, I live up in Manhattan."

"Are you special too?"

I bit my lip. "Yes."

"What can you do?"

"I can fly and control the air."

"That's amazing. How do you know Gabriel?"

"We go way back," I said. "Where did you guys come from?"

"I came with my brother from South America, but I met Gabriel in Mexico."

"So you speak Spanish?"

"_Sí. ¿Hablas español también?"_

For those who didn't catch that Maya said to me: "Yes. Do you speak Spanish too?"

"_Sí. Mi mama enseñó cuando era niña. Necesito hablarte. Gabriel no es Gabriel. Él ha matado muchas personas."_

English translation: "Yeah. My mom taught me when I was little. I need to talk to you. Gabriel isn't Gabriel. He has killed many people."

"_Yo sé," _she sighed. _"Yo soy un asesinato también._ The power that I have, it hurts other people when I'm angry or sad. I need to get rid of it and Gabriel is more than willing to help."

Well, I wish I heard the Spanish phrase wrong. Maya knew about Sylar's true nature and admitted to being a sympathetic killer. She didn't completely understand what was trying to tell her though. I had the worst luck.

Sylar came out the room before I could say anything else to convince Maya otherwise. She was just a helpless victim in all of this.

"Mohinder will be right over," he announced to us.

"That's wonderful," Maya said joyfully.

"It's been a long trip, Maya. You should probably get some rest since he won't be here until the morning."

"Okay. Goodnight, Gabriel. _Buenas noches, Danni._"

Once Maya left the room, Sylar looked back to me. "You can go to bed too if you want."

"Screw you," I hissed. "You're using that poor girl."

"And that's the worst I've done?"

"Don't test me."

"So what's been going on around here without me? Is your brother still his righteous self?"

I silently took a seat on the couch. I felt Sylar take a seat beside me. "Oh right, I let him go nuclear. Which brings up the question as to why New York isn't gone?"

"Nathan flew Peter up into the sky and he blew up there."

"Both of your brothers were lost then?"

"Just Peter."

"But wouldn't he have survived with his healing ability?"

"I don't want to talk about this," I snapped. "Especially with you."

"What about your sidekick? Where is he these days?"

"I'm not talking to you about that either."

"Then what do you want to talk about?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"Fine. While you sulk here, I'm going to look through Mohinder's files." Sylar got up from his seat and walked towards Mohinder's computer.

That's when I realized I still had an advantage over Sylar for once. He didn't have his powers. I did. I had to be smart. Sneaky too. Molly's life was at stake. I could control air. No matter where it came from…even if it came out of someone's mouth. An idea immediately sprouted from that, but it was a risk. All the same, Molly and I couldn't be here when Mohinder walked through that door. That's when everything will become clear for Maya and everyone's lives would be put into jeopardy. Without giving it a second thought, I sped over to Sylar and leaped onto his back.

He wasn't surprised by the move. "Isn't this trick a little old, Danielle?"

"Nope," I placed my hand over his mouth. "This is a special feature."

I concentrated on the air in his lungs. I could feel the air leave his lungs and go into the palm of my hand as Sylar struggled silently. I stopped before I took out too much. I knew if I continued to take more air out, I could end up killing him in the process. That wasn't my goal. I jumped off of his back before he collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

I ran to Molly's room and shook her awake. "Molly, wake up! We have to get out of here!"

"Why?" she groaned.

"C'mon, we have to go."

"What's going on?"

"It's tough to explain, but you need to trust me okay?"

She nodded groggily as I went to pick her up. Before I could reach her though, I felt a pair of rough hands grab me. Molly screamed at my captor. Sylar slammed me up against the wall by my neck.

"Nice try," he snarled.

"I'm not finished." I threw my legs just below his crotch. He winced causing him bend over and let me go. I ran past him and went to Molly.

I was stopped once again when he grabbed my ankle, tripping me. I tried to move from his grip, but his strength out matched mine. He turned my body over on my back and pinned me to the ground.

"It looks like someone isn't going to behave," he hissed.

"Get off of her!" Molly screamed as she banged her fists against his back.

Sylar went to his feet and took Molly in his arms. "Be careful what you wish for, Molly."

"Danni!" she cried.

I jumped to my feet. "Don't hurt her."

"I won't," he said. "As long as you stay put. I don't know how clear I made that."

"I had to try."

"You've got quite a nerve. I'm impressed."

"That doesn't matter to me."

Sylar opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when there was a knock at the door. Once again, I was confused. Mohinder didn't have the power to return so quickly. Who could it be?

"Here's a chance to redeem yourself," he told me. "If you scare the person at the door away from here, I won't touch a hair on Molly's head."

"Why don't you answer it?" I asked.

"Because it'll be suspicious if someone other than the babysitter answers it. Now go, before I change my mind."

I looked down to Molly. "Everything's going to be okay, Molly. I promise."

She nodded her head. I walked out of the room with Sylar following right behind me. I opened the door, ready to tell the person at the door to leave. I couldn't though. Yet another surprise appeared at the doorway.

"Cole," I said breathlessly.

_This cannot be happening._

"You can't be here right now," I told him quickly.

"I know," he sighed. "I just needed to see you."

"This isn't a good time."

"Then when is? Because we need to talk about what happened last night."

"I want to talk about it too, but—"

"Great. Then explain to me how you feel about this because you obviously know where I stand in all of this. And don't say anything about not being good enough for me."

"Can we do this another time?" I whispered. I really didn't feel like pouring out my feelings in front of Sylar.

"No. I'm not moving until you tell me why you're trying to push me away and how you really feel about me."

Cole was almost as stubborn as I was sometimes. I knew he wouldn't move until he got the answers he deserved from me. All of the sudden, I didn't care if Sylar was listening to every word of our conversation. I had something to say and I was ready for Cole to hear it.

"Fine," I said. "The reason I let you go in the first place was because I loved you. Even now, I love you and to be honest, that scares me more than anything. I've never been in love before and I don't know if I'm supposed to know what love is. You're my best friend. You were the one that was there when I first discovered my ability. You accepted me when I didn't accept myself. I don't know how many people have told you this, but you're extraordinarily selfless and brave. You're my hero and I love you, Cole Bowman."

Without giving it a second thought, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. Cole didn't hesitate to return the kiss. For the first time in months, I felt like a great weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I didn't have to lie to Cole about who I was because he already knew. My heart raced as he wrapped his arms around me. Not once in this journey, did I ever expect that I would fall in love with my best friend. But in the end, that's what we all hope for: to be with the person who knows you most and will love you no matter what.

"Well, isn't this a turn of events."

I pulled away from Cole to face Sylar. I felt Cole tense next to me. "Sylar? You're supposed to be dead."

"Plans change," he shrugged. "Just like this one."

Sylar grasped both of our arms roughly and dragged us into the apartment. He continued to pull us until we were in Molly's room.

He pushed us away. "Both of you are officially grounded in this room. If any of you try to escape, I'll consider killing Maya before Mohinder arrives."

Sylar left the room, locking the doors behind him. I flinched as I felt a pair of small arms wrap around my waist.

"Thank goodness you're okay, Danni," Molly cried. "I thought the boogeyman killed you for a second."

"There would be no point if he did," I said. "He lost his powers somehow."

"Then why aren't you kicking his ass?" Cole questioned.

"I tried that. Molly almost got hurt in the process and Maya will get hurt too if I try again. Plus you know how unskilled I am in my complicated ability."

"Who's Maya?"

"A woman he's using. She wants to get rid of her ability, but she doesn't realize who Sylar really is."

"That's great," he scoffed. "So explain to me how Sylar is here?"

I sat Molly down on her bed and told Cole the story Sylar said to me. I didn't believe it completely either but it was the only story I had. I was frustrated more than anything. When Sylar died, I thought things would return back to normal but obviously that wasn't the case. Once he got his powers back, he would wreak havoc once again.

"Who would want to keep him alive?" Cole asked incredulously when I was finished.

"I don't know," I said. "Now we have to worry about Sylar killing innocent people again."

"And going after you."

"That's the least of our worries right now. We need to at least survive the night until Mohinder can get here."

"What about Matt?"

"Matt is investigating the murders with Danni's brother," Molly explained.

Cole raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?"

"After Matt's dad trapped me inside my head, Matt had to explain everything to me. I don't know where he went, though."

"Another dead end. So what do we do now?"

"Get some rest," I suggested. "It's better than staying up."

"Can you guys sleep with me?" Molly quietly asked. "I'm scared."

I nodded. "Sure, kiddo."

Molly moved to the edge of the bed as I went right next to her. I looked to Cole who was awkwardly standing next to the bed.

"C'mon, Cole, the invitation was open to you too," I smirked.

Cole smiled and lay beside me. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Molly and I replied in unison.

His arms wrapped around my waist making me feel secure and safe. But it wasn't that night I dreaded. It was the morning Mohinder returned. That's when Sylar would begin his rampage.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! I don't really have an excuses as to why it took so long to update other than I was busy at Comic Con last weekend. Other than that, you could say I've been slacking off as usual. Anyway, the next chapter is the season 2 finale! If you thought seasonvolume 2 was slow, I apologize...with an action packed season 3. I'm three chapters away from being done with the season and I'm loving it so far and I hope you will too.

But until we can get to that point, Danni has to play hostage for a little while. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

~ShatteredxDreams411


	36. Powerless

Powerless

I hardly slept through the night. Sylar's return still rattled me enough to worry about if he had changed his mind to spare our lives. I heard Sylar pacing in the room next to us and then I heard him typing on a computer. At one point I heard the door open and close. My heart continued to race. The nightmare I faced the year before came back.

I did fall asleep eventually. It didn't feel that long though. My eyes fluttered once again when the sunlight leaked through Molly's blinds. Molly didn't appear to notice though. She went fast asleep after Cole and I joined her.

"Danni," Cole whispered in my ear. "Are you awake?"

"No, I'm still counting sheep." I quietly turned my body around to face Cole. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine and good morning to you too."

"Sorry, I'm still a little paranoid."

"I think that's an understatement," he sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry for coming over here last night. I'm pretty sure I made the situation even worse."

"You didn't, trust me. I was the one who tried to suffocate him and kicked him within five minutes before you came here. In some ways, I'm glad you did. I wouldn't have to go through this alone."

"I would be a lot sneakier about it if I knew. I know this is a bad time, but I have to ask before anything happens: are we a couple now?"

"I kissed you and you have to ask?"

"I was just checking."

I gave him a small kiss on his lips. "Satisfied?"

"I feel better."

_Click._ I sat straight up along with Cole as the door opened. It wasn't Sylar though. It was Maya.

"Good morning," she smiled at us. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Cole, my boyfriend. He just came in after you went to bed."

"I see. Well, do you want breakfast? I made chilaquiles."

"It's okay, we're fine."

"Don't be silly. You must be hungry."

I wanted to rebel, but I knew that would be rude towards Maya. "Sure, we'll take some."

"What about Molly?"

"Just let her sleep. She needs the rest."

Maya nodded as she left the room.

"And this is supposed to be a hostage situation?" Cole hissed. "She's cooking us Mexican food for breakfast."

"It's like I said: she doesn't understand the gravity of the situation and I can't tell her or else people will get hurt."

"So, just play along for now?"

"It's all we can do until Sylar decides to pull the cat is out of the bag."

Cole silently agreed as he took my hand. We walked into the kitchen to find Maya cooking at the stove and Sylar typing on Mohinder's computer.

Maya gestured to the table as soon as she spotted us. "Danni. Cole. Come sit."

We each took a seat at the table. Not long after, Maya placed a plate of chilaquiles in front of us. The food smelled great. It brought memories with my mother. On the weekends, she would make huevos rancheros for breakfast and pour green chili over it.

"Don't stare at it. Dig in," she urged.

I did as I was told. They tasted just as amazing as they smelled.

"So how are they?"

"They're great," I said. "Thank you."

"Last night you said your mother spoke Spanish. Were either of you born in America?"

"We both were. It was my grandpa who emigrated from Mexico."

"Interesting how fate has brought us all here together."

"Agreed."

"Danni," Sylar spun around in his chair to face us. "Have you ever heard anything about the Shanti Virus?"

Memories from the night Adam Monroe spoke to me came rushing back to me.

"Very faintly," I answered. "Why?"

"Tell me how much you know."

"It's a virus that ends in death. I really don't remember the rest of it."

"How do you know what it is in the first place?" Cole questioned.

"A man named Adam Monroe broke into my house asking me to help him to stop the Shanti Virus," I explained. "He was a total nut though. He claimed that Peter was alive, but we all know that's not possible."

"I wouldn't think he's a total nut-job," Sylar commented. "Look at me. I was wondering through the Mexican desert when Maya found me."

I ignored him. "Plus, Angela said that he was the one who attacked her. He's the one who has a grudge against the Company and my grandpa."

"Where is he now?" Cole took another bite of his food.

"Who knows? I decided to back out. Try to be normal, you know?"

The front door swung open. The show was about to begin. Mohinder walked into the room, fear written in his eyes. He looked to me for answers, but all I could do was stare.

"Welcome home, Doctor Suresh," Sylar greeted. "What happened to your nose?"

It was then that I noticed Mohinder's nose as well. It was red and had a bandage over it, but I highly doubted Mohinder would answer that question anytime soon. The injury was there in the hours ago I saw him yet I chose that moment to notice it.

"Where's Molly?" Mohinder demanded.

"Asleep," Sylar answered calmly. "Keep your voice down. We don't want to wake her."

"What are they doing here still?" Mohinder glanced towards us.

"It was late when we got here so I figured it was safer than letting them walk through the streets alone."

"What is it you want?"

Sylar got up from his chair causing Mohinder to back away slightly. "Breakfast. Hope you don't mind. Maya cooked. She makes the most amazing chilaquiles."

Maya walked over to Mohinder and shook his hand. "It's such an honor to meet you."

"He's the one that should be honored. Maya came all the way here from South America just to be here, Mohinder."

"Really?" Mohinder widened his eyes in surprise. "Why is that?"

"I read your father's book," she explained. "It has so many answers, but I have so many more questions."

"Sit. Eat," Sylar urged. "I'm starving."

Both of the men took a seat at the table with Cole and me. I could feel the tension radiating from the two sworn enemies. Cole took my hand from under the table to calm me down. Mohinder continued to hold his confusion while Sylar kept his inner cockiness as Maya brought out more food for them.

"When Gabriel told me you two knew each other," she began. "I knew fate brought us together."

"Gabriel?" Mohinder inquired. "You mean Sylar, don't you? You know this man is a killer."

"Yes. He told me."

"He did?"

"And I am ashamed to admit I've taken lives as well. I have a sickness that comes out of me. It poisons everyone around. I need your help, Dr. Suresh."

"So, that's what this is about."

"We both need your help," Sylar added.

"Why's that?" Mohinder looked to the boogeyman.

"I was reading about your lab work on the laptop. The Shanti Virus. Does it really take away a person's abilities?"

It all clicked for me right then and there. Sylar woke up without his abilities and he was asking about what I knew about the Shanti Virus. He was infected.

"It also has the unfortunate side effect of killing the person infected," Mohinder answered.

"Is that why your powers are gone? That you have this virus?" Maya asked, concerned.

The moment Mohinder and Sylar exchanged glances, I knew the trouble was going to begin. Mohinder grabbed a knife from the table and pointed it in Sylar's direction as he jumped to his feet. Sylar was faster though. Once he came to his feet, he pulled out a gun from under his shirt. Cole pulled me up from my seat in response. Realizing his chances, Mohinder dropped the knife.

"Gabriel?" Maya said, frightened. "What are you doing?"

"I tried to tell you," I said to her. "He's a murderer. He'll do whatever he can to get your powers."

"Maya, I need you to stay calm," Sylar ordered. "Apparently, Mohinder, your blood is the answer to my ills."

"No. No," Mohinder stuttered. "Not always. Trust me, there are many different strains of the virus."

Sylar moved to the computer and opened the laptop revealing a picture of Claire. "But when you mix it with a certain cheerleader's blood it changes, doesn't it? And it heals anything, isn't that right, Doctor?"

I sighed. Poor Claire always had to get stuck in this situation somehow.

"You lied to me?" Maya snarled.

"I don't know what he told you, but he's not my friend," Mohinder whispered to her. "He's a monster."

"Maya, do not spoil this," Sylar shouted.

Suddenly, I felt as if something was reaching inside of my body and taking every inch of life from me. I collapsed to the ground along with Cole. Our eyes locked in with each other. I flinched at the sight. His eyes were completely black.

"Cole," I gasped. "Your eyes."

"Yours too," he choked out.

I looked inside his eyes for a reflection and found the same result in me. My eyes were pitch black as well. I felt parts of my limbs grow cold and numb. I took in deep breaths as my throat began to shrink. The poison that was in my body was growing more rapidly. I was dying. And so was everyone else.

"My brother was right not to trust you," Maya hissed. She was the one who was causing this. She was the one upset and still breathing.

I couldn't blame her completely. I could have caused a hurricane when I found Chad kissing Brooke.

"Do you really want to kill Dr. Suresh? The one man who can save you?" Sylar challenged. "Or the babysitter and her boyfriend?"

Molly's screamed echoed throughout the room.

"Molly!" Mohinder cried.

Molly walked out of her room crying her black tears.

"And she dies," Sylar continued to taunt. "A sweet, innocent little girl. Stop it, Maya! Now!"

Slowly, I felt the pain disappearing from my body. I looked into Cole's eyes and saw the black dissolve against his piercing blue. I took in a deep breath, finally able to breathe normally again.

I embraced Cole. "Thank God. Are you okay?"

He kissed my head. "I'm fine. We're fine."

Mohinder didn't waste any time to embrace Molly as well. She sobbed into his jacket.

"All right," Mohinder said, shaking. "I'll help you, but not here. We need to get to my lab."

"Lead the way, Doctor," Sylar smirked.

I didn't know what to expect from here. With Molly around, I was sure that Maya would keep her ability under control. It was the part where Sylar got his powers back that I was concerned about. All of us piled in the car Sylar and Maya drove to New York and with Mohinder's directions, Sylar drove to Mohinder's lab.

As we drove closer, I recognized the street we were on. Months ago, I came to see Isaac only to find that he was murdered by Sylar. Before that, I remember coming with Cole to speak to him about Peter. I knew where Mohinder's lab was the minute Sylar parked the car. It was at Isaac's loft.

Sylar didn't waste any time getting out of the car with his gun on hand. By the time I unbuckled myself, I was forcefully yanked out of the car. I gasped in shock as Cole called after me. I realized who it was when the cold gun was pressed to my neck.

"What is your problem?" I demanded. "I didn't do anything that time."

"No, but who's to say you won't move the minute I turn my back?" Sylar sneered. "I can't have you be the hero with the ability you have."

"She won't move," Mohinder defended. "Please, don't hurt her. Your fight is with me."

"Once I get my powers back, I want to make sure she's around to be generous. Until then, she doesn't leave my side."

"No way in Hell," Cole jumped out of the car and charged for Sylar.

Sylar pointed the gun to Cole. "Are you really going to challenge me?"

"Why not? As far as I can see, it's fair game."

"You forget who's holding the gun."

"You forget the one that knocked you unconscious when you did have your powers."

_Click._ Sylar loaded the gun. "Why don't you try that again?"

"No, please, don't hurt him," I begged. "He's trying to help me."

"I spared his life once. I'm not sure if that was a wise choice."

"He's not doing anything, please." I looked to Cole. "I'll be fine. I promise."

Mohinder put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't do anything you'll regret. He'll keep Danni alive if he knows what's good for him."

Reluctantly, Cole backed away. Sylar laughed at this. "Good talk, Doctor. Now if you'll be so kind as to lead us to your office."

Mohinder led all of us to Isaac's old loft with Sylar's grip firm on my arm. Molly was guided by Maya while Cole walked beside Mohinder who was glancing towards him to make sure Cole didn't do anything to stop Sylar. When we arrived at Isaac's loft, Mohinder punched in the passcode to the door.

"You're nothing like you said you were," Maya sneered at Sylar. "Alejandro was right all along."

"You want to get rid of your powers. I want mine back," he responded. "After Suresh fixes me, I'll gladly take yours off of your hands."

"Almost a year long absence and nothing has changed," I spat.

Mohinder opened the door with everyone following behind him. Before I was able to step inside though, Sylar pulled me back and hissed in my ear. "The same will go for you. Such great power shouldn't be wasted on the weak."

He pushed me inside after he was finished closing the door behind him. "There's a bed over there. Stay put, stay calm, and remember…" He flashed his gun and pulled Mohinder towards us.

"Mohinder," Molly came forward, but Maya stopped her. "Danni."

"It'll be okay, Molly. I promise," Mohinder assured.

Sylar pushed both of us down the stairs and into the main floor. I looked back up at Cole. His eyes were locked on me and his fists were clenched.

"I'll be fine," I told him once again.

I knew Sylar wouldn't kill me just yet. He only wanted insurance that I wouldn't go running off to tell the world Sylar was alive or to speed off with all of the hostages. I glanced around the room. The loft was no longer filled with paintings as I remembered. There were blackboards with scientific equations and lab equipment all around. The only thing that remained intact was the painting on the floor depicting the once possible future of New York.

"So this is your laboratory, huh?" Sylar chuckled. "I killed that artist, Isaac Mendez, right on this very spot."

He smiled smugly to himself as I rolled my eyes. I had the unfortunate experience of stumbling upon the body.

Mohinder walked into the room ahead. "I need to have to take a sample of your blood."

"Why?" he asked.

"You're self-diagnosed. I need to know what strain of the virus you have. Or even if you have it at all."

"Just give me the remedy."

"It doesn't work like that. The wrong dosage would kill you."

Mohinder held out the white band to Sylar. Both glared daggers at each other before Sylar finally gave in and put the gun on the table. He pulled off his jacket and pulled up his sleeve.

"Don't even think about moving, Danielle," he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Wouldn't dream of it," I drawled.

Mohinder wrapped the white strip around Sylar's arm.

Sylar moved his attention back to Mohinder. "Your father helped me find my gift, and now here you are restoring it. Life has its poetry, doesn't it?"

"My father who you murdered." Mohinder grabbed the needle from the table.

"I wouldn't say anything with the needle in his hand," I teased the serial killer.

Sylar ignored me. "Your father who betrayed me. Don't make that same mistake, Mohinder."

In response, Mohinder stabbed Sylar with the needle. He began to draw out blood as he glanced up at the wall. He looked in the same direction every time he took another sample of Sylar's blood, I noticed. Once I knew Sylar wasn't looking at me, I glanced at the part of the wall Mohinder was looking at. It was a camera. Wait, Mohinder had to enter a code to get inside. There had to some kind of security system. And by the look of that red light, it was on high alert. Hopefully someone was there to see it.

I glanced back at Cole and gave him a weak smile.

"Sorry to hear about your brother," Sylar said. "It looked like he was going to be the real hero."

I turned to him. "You made sure he was dead and if not dead, you would have made him suffer for killing millions of lives."

"Everyone has to have their antagonist."

Mohinder removed the needle from Sylar's arm and placed the blood samples under the microscope.

"Peter may be gone, but there are plenty more who will fight against you," I glared.

Sylar only laughed. "Are you actually this righteous or is it an act?"

"Oh, it's real. I'd just like to call it confidence. Plus it flares when you're around. And I didn't get it standing down. I said, I did, I fought for what I believe in. And unlike you, when I fell down, I got right back up on my feet no matter how hard it was."

"Outstanding speech. I'll have to remember that when I'm taking away your ability."

"You have the same strain of the virus that Niki has," Mohinder informed Sylar. "The Company injected you as well."

Sylar looked at Mohinder. "Injected me? Someone did this to me?"

"You killed him?" Maya's voice rasped. She stood in the middle of the loft glowering at Sylar. "You killed my brother!"

Within an instant, Sylar grabbed his gun and pointed it at Maya. _Bang!_ Molly let out a scream as everyone else gasped at the sight. Blood bled out of Maya's chest as she collapsed to the ground. I ran to Maya's side as she gasped for air. Cole came running to my side as well.

"She's still breathing," I said.

"She has a bullet in her chest, Danni," Cole pointed out somberly. "We don't know how long she'll be breathing like that."

"We need to get the bullet out. There has to be some kind of tools around here—"

_Bang!_ Another gun shoot rang out. I waited for the pain but none of it came. I heard Cole groan next to me and froze. Blood bled through the chest area of his shirt.

"Cole!" I screamed as I ran to his side.

Cole gripped his chest and fell to the floor with my support. I remembered a few things from first aid and a couple lessons Peter taught me as a nurse. Both considered this to be rule number one: remove the clothes that surrounded the wound. I took off his jacket effortlessly, but when I came to the wound, the shirt was stuck inside the wound. I couldn't rip it off without hurting him more.

"It's okay. Everything's going to be okay," I reassured him.

I looked back at the scene between Mohinder and Sylar. If we were to get out of this situation, the time for someone to save us would have to be soon.

"Now look what you made me do," Sylar growled and pointed the gun back to Mohinder. "Where is the heal-anything blood?"

Mohinder pulled out a black box from his bag.

"You had it here all along?" Sylar realized furiously. "You and I have trust issues, Doctor. Give it to them first. Let me see you save them. Them if it works…I'll let you save me."

I returned my attention back to Cole. He was turning pale quickly as he continued to bleed. Something needed to be done soon if he had a chance of surviving this. Even if Claire's blood didn't work, I was still taking the chance.

"Cole," I rested my hand on his cheek. "You're going to be okay. Hold my hand and keep breathing."

Cole moaned in pain, gripping my hand tightly. His chest continued to bleed profusely against his hand.

"Danni," he said gruffly.

"Don't waste your breath," I scolded. "You need your energy to stay alive. For me, okay?"

Cole nodded in response. I glanced sideways to see Mohinder scooping Maya's body in his arms.

"Danni," he said. "Take Cole to the bed now if you want him to be healed."

I didn't argue to that. With my help, I supported Cole back to his feet and guided him to the bed. When Maya was laid down, I sat Cole next to her. I stayed by Cole as Mohinder brought out the syringe full of blood from the black box with Sylar and Molly intently watching over the scene. Mohinder gently brought Cole's arm out and gave him a small injection. After briefly sterilizing the needle, Mohinder did the same injection to Maya.

"That's it? Just a simple injection?" Sylar questioned.

Nobody answered him though.

"How you feel?" I asked Cole.

"I don't know," he answered groggily. "I feel a little weird."

Everyone watched his wound for any changes. Not a few moments later, we saw the wound moving. Much to my relief, the wound spit out the bullet and landed on the bed. Claire's blood worked! She did have the power to save other people beside herself.

I embraced Cole and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank God. I'm going to write Claire a very long thank you letter."

He groaned. "Careful, I'm still a little light headed."

"I'm sure Maya will understand if I'm not here when she wakes up," I heard Sylar mutter.

Suddenly I heard something static. I turned my attention to the sound to find a blond woman holding what seemed to be a ball of an electric current in one hand while the other was tied to a sling.

"Sylar!" she screamed.

Sylar pointed the gun at the window she stood and shot at her. The window shattered, but the woman moved out of the way on time. Cole and I ducked down to the floor to avoid any more gun shots. Sylar shot again at another window, but missed that time as well. He ran to the other direction with the black box in his hand. The woman shot out electricity from her hand causing Sylar to fall over into the glass door. He got to his feet just as the woman was rushing towards him. Both disappeared from plain sight.

My heart raced. "It's over. It's finally over."

"I told you everything would be fine," Cole smiled.

I hit him in the shoulder. "Never scare me like that again!"

"Sylar was the one who shot me!"

"You could have died, Cole. I don't know what I would have done."

His lips kissed mine. "I'm pretty sure you would have managed. Besides, I can finally say I've been shot."

I rolled my eyes. "You can be ridiculous sometimes."

We got to our feet and faced Mohinder and Molly.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked them.

Molly nodded. "We are now."

"When is Maya supposed to wake up?"

"Soon," Mohinder answered. "At least, we hope. Sylar ran off with the blood."

"At least we're still breathing. Thank you for healing Cole. I'm not sure if he would have made it with all of the blood he was losing."

"I'm glad it helped saved your friend. But the blood was meant for another infected victim of the Shanti Virus. Now, she'll never have a chance."

I bent down and put a hand on his. "You did what you could. You came back for Molly."

"I know. I'm sorry I got you all caught up in this mess."

"I'm sorry I couldn't get Molly out on time. You trusted me to protect her."

"Neither of us expected Sylar to return. You did what you could to protect Molly as well to the best of your ability."

"You stopped Sylar from hurting me," Molly added. "And you did it kicking and screaming."

"Thank you, Molly," I replied.

All of us gathered around Maya's unconscious body waiting for the results. Cole healed faster due to the wound being only in his arm. Maya, on the other hand, had a wound in her heart.

A loud gasp escaped Maya's lips. She shot up and looked at all of us with wide eyes. "I thought I was dead."

"You very nearly were," Mohinder told her.

"Sylar's gone."

All of us turned our attention to the woman that saved us. Despite the accomplishment, she seemed disappointed.

She hit her hand against the wall. "My dad's going to kill me."

"I doubt that very much," Mohinder assured. "If you hadn't arrived, Sylar would have slaughtered us all. We owe you our lives."

"Really? Cool."

"Who are you anyway?" Cole questioned.

"I'm Elle Bishop," she introduced. "I work for the Company."

My jaw dropped. The Elle Bishop that I heard about was standing right before my eyes. Now that I got a look at her, I could see some part of her was naïve. She also reminded me of Claire. Not just the blond hair, but the way she carried herself like the world couldn't convince her otherwise on how to live.

"I don't know how I'm going to explain to my mom what happened to my shirt," Cole mumbled, pointing to the clean hole the bullet punctured on the shirt as well as the large blood stain.

"I would burn it," I suggested. "I don't think your mom likes me that much to begin with and she'll probably get the wrong idea."

"That is an option."

"Hey, you're Danielle Santiago."

I turned to see Elle standing right beside me. I cringed slightly. It was the first time someone had called me by my original last name in years.

"How do you know that?" I inquired.

"The Company has your files," she explained. "You're one of the founders' kids like I am. You were brought in last year and you have the ability to manipulate air. Small world, huh?"

"Yeah, small world. How long have you worked for the Company?"

"Since I was nine practically. My dad knew I had what it takes. But he said your grandfather didn't want any of his kids involved. I guess it's just based on preference."

"Thank you for saving us," I said, changing the subject. "I wasn't sure if that security camera worked or not."

"It worked and thankfully I was snooping around in my dad's stuff."

"Either way you were the one brave enough to use your powers against Sylar with a sling on one arm. That's more than I'll ever do."

"Why not? You know, you are the first Santiago to have a physical power in generations? With a little training and practice, you can send Sylar flying out of this city."

"I'll have to think about that."

"So can I be your trusted sidekick then, Air Maiden?" Cole nudged me.

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up. You're lucky I like you."

Cole only smiled in response. Obviously feeling out of place, Elle walked away from us. Mohinder had disappeared to check on the other equipment while Molly stayed with Maya. The storm had come as fast as it vanished. For a brief moment, we were safe.

_A masquerade. That's the life we make others see to hide how we really feel. It's proper to do so, but sometimes it's too easy. It's easy to smile when you're sad or to pretend nothing is wrong when you're angry. We may think we're doing it for others, but we're only really doing it for ourselves. Yet when there's someone who can see beyond your mask, you try to push them away. If they're persistent enough, they'll keep trying open your eyes and those are the people you want to keep around. But sometimes you feel powerless even if you were the one with power to stop the sorrow in the first place. But it's not the power that makes a power. It's the confidence and the drive to use that power to do great things. Once you have those two, you'll be able to go on as you are or even say how you really feel because that's all that really matters. There is no such thing as powerless… _

"Danni," Molly called. "Isn't that your brother on TV?"

I turned my attention to the small television screen Molly was looking into. It was my brother. Nathan stood before a podium with camera lights flashing in his face. What was he doing in a press conference again?

"Yeah, that's him," I muttered.

"Good afternoon," Nathan began. "Most of you have no idea who I am. My name is Nathan Petrelli and I was elected to Congress in the state of New York. Seems like a long time ago. I lost my position. I lost my brother. I lost my family." Nathan glanced sideways with the camera zooming away from his face.

I caught my breath at the sight. By his side was not only Matt, but someone I never thought I would ever see again. I thought I was hallucinating at first. But then Cole noticed as well.

"Are you seeing this?" he whispered.

The man beside Nathan wore dark attire and once long black hair was cut and pulled back. His expression was pulled forward and serious. Despite these differences, I knew exactly who this man was. Adam was right.

"It's Peter," I said. "He's alive."

Cole put a comforting arm around my shoulder. Peter was alive all along. I don't remember being as relieved as I was at that moment.

"I'm sad to say that I lost my way," Nathan continued. "But while I was gone, I've had the chance to see the world through newly humbled eyes, witnessed amazing things, seen ordinary people among us trying their best each day to be heroes. These ordinary people, like you, like me, are capable of extraordinary things. You have no idea how extraordinary."

"What's he doing?" I thought out loud.

I had a bad feeling as to where this speech was going. I exchanged concerned expressions with everyone else. All of us had the same feeling.

Nathan was going to expose us. "But there are other people, organizations who don't want you to know the truth. I myself kept secrets. But last year, something incredible happened to me, and it changed my life. At first, I was afraid. But I'm not afraid anymore. I'm here to tell you the truth. I have the ability—"

_Bang! Bang!_ Two gun shots were fired into Nathan's chest. The camera was shaking to get a closer look as Peter caught Nathan in his arms. Everyone was shouting and moving around while Peter, Matt and Nathan were the only ones that remained still. The camera was far away now, but I could see Nathan rolling his eyes to the back of his head.

_And that is where all the real trouble began._

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! So...how has life been these past three months that I have not updated? Sorry about the late update. Since I'm getting more into my major at school, I'm being forced to dedicate more time to that. Plus there's all the other woes of being a college student to deal with.<p>

But that's the end of Season Two! What did you think? Love it. Hate it. Let me know. Season Three Volume Three will be up eventually. I'm currently writing the last chapter for that.

A few spoilers: there's a lot of action and you get to learn more about Danni's past (mostly having to do with her mom). Her dad is not being ignored by any means though. Believe me, you will be awarded for your patience. _  
><em>

~ShatteredxDreams411


	37. The New Tide

The New Tide

_Who am I? What's my purpose?_ _That's the existential questions we constantly ask ourselves. Most spend their entire lives trying to figure that out, but personally I never put that much thought into it. Honestly, I thought I had it all figured out: a teenage girl with amazing abilities she didn't even want. But as I moved further into my journey, I realized how wrong I was. It's not who we are that defines us. It's our decisions. That's why there is no good or bad in this world. There are decisions that only reflect differently on others. It's just a matter of prospective._

I felt numb. I wanted this to be a nightmare so I had the possibility of waking up and returning back to reality. But that was the problem: this was reality. There was no chance of waking up from this. Not a few moments ago, I witnessed my brother, Nathan Petrelli, give the speech that would expose individuals with special abilities along with the good cop, Matt Parkman and the brother I believed that was dead for nearly a year, Peter Petrelli. And only a few hours ago, I was in the hands of the mass murderer, Sylar, desperately searching for a way to cure him of his disease. Then to top everything off, Nathan was shot two times in the chest before he could expose us entirely. The broadcast cut off as Nathan was being carried off by the ambulance.

I was with Mohinder, Molly, Maya, Elle, and Cole in Isaac Mendez's old loft when I saw the event on TV.I knew what I had to do. I needed to see my brothers again.

I tapped Molly on the shoulder. "Molly, can you find my brothers for me?"

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Mohinder questioned. "You might want to wait until Peter calls you about anymore news."

"Peter doesn't know that I know he's alive," I quipped. "I haven't seen Nathan in a couple months. I need to see them."

"What if the gunman is still out there?" Cole asked.

"I highly doubt he wants to shoot other people. Nathan was the only one shot and if he wanted to shoot more than he would have. These are my brothers were talking about here."

"Let her go," Maya urged the group. "No matter what happened they are her brothers. I would give anything to see mine again."

"All right, you have my permission," Mohinder sighed.

"She wasn't asking for you permission, Doc," Elle nudged him.

I looked back at Molly. "Can you find my brothers for me?"

She nodded and closed her eyes. Molly had the ability to find anyone in the world as long as she had a picture so she could think about them. She didn't need a picture from me though. She saw the broadcast with the rest of us.

Molly finally opened her eyes again. "They're in Odessa, Texas on the way to the hospital."

"Same place where we found Claire," I mused. "Ironic."

"That town just has bad luck," Cold commented.

"Thanks, Molly. I owe you one." I turned to Cole. "I hate to leave you like this, but I have to see my brothers."

"No, I get it. You thought Peter was dead the whole time and Nathan got shot."

"If only they'd stay out of trouble for once."

"They could say the same about you. Besides, I'll be fine. I feel great actually thanks to Claire."

"Remind me to give her a call today. Do you need a ride home?"

He shrugged. "I can catch the bus back to the apartment since my car is over there."

"No. Sylar is still out there, Cole. You shouldn't be walking around alone anywhere for a couple days at least."

"I would offer, but Sylar was the one with the keys to the car," Maya informed us.

"I can give everyone a lift back," Elle offered. "But we need to hurry. I need to get back to the Company and tell my dad Sylar is back from the dead."

"Fair enough," Mohinder nodded. "I need to make arrangements as well."

"Thanks, Elle," I told her. "I need to get going too if I want to catch Peter and Nathan on time."

"Good luck with your brothers," Mohinder said. "You're going to need it with those two."

I rolled my eyes. "Wow, I feel the love." I looked down at Molly. "Don't give Matt and Mohinder a hard time while I'm gone, okay? And it was nice meeting you, Maya."

I went to embrace Cole. "I'll call you as soon as I know anything."

"I'll be waiting." Cole pulled me into a kiss before separating from the hug. "I love you."

"I love you too."

I sprinted out of the loft and jumped into the air as soon as I knew no one was looking. Flying across the country was a new experience, I began to realize. New York was easy. I spent enough time in the city to recognize land marks from the sky. But for Odessa, I had to remember the last time I was there. I remembered to diner that was there. That's where we met Hiro Nakamura's friend, Ando. With that in mind, I flew as fast as I could go.

No matter how many times I flew, the feeling was the same: liberation. Freedom. I could go anywhere I wanted in hardly any time at all. I stayed as far above the clouds as I could to avoid any passing planes. When I saw the familiar landmarks of Odessa, Texas I began to glide down. My eyes locked on a fast moving ambulance truck. That had to be Nathan. If not Nathan, then the truck would lead me to the local hospital.

I landed just a few blocks away from the hospital behind a couple of buildings. From there, I ran to the hospital. Once inside, I realized that I had little chance of seeing Nathan with the receptionist and security around. I glanced at the directory and found the room that Nathan would be in: emergency. So with my ability, I sped past the receptionist desk leaving behind a gust of wind.

I stopped when I reached the correct wing. I looked around for any sign of Nathan or Peter. Then I saw a glimpse of a familiar figure and paused. The man was staring into the window of the operation room. He was tall and had short black hair. It was Peter. When I saw him on TV, I was breathless but as I saw him that moment, I was elated. I ran over to Peter. He must have heard me coming because when he turned to look, I embraced him.

"Oh my God, Peter," I said. "I thought I would never see you again. How did you survive?"

Peter pulled away from me. "Danni? What are you doing here?"

"I saw you and Nathan on TV. I saw the shooting. I had to come in case…"

"You can't be here," he said sourly. "You shouldn't be involved."

"And why not?" I was taken aback by his harshness. "You and Nathan are my brothers. Nathan was shot and the last time I saw you, you blew up over Kirby Plaza. Since then, I thought you were dead. So what happened?"

"That's complicated."

"How complicated? Because last I checked, a phone call is a very simple task to accomplish. But no, some guy had to break into my house and tell me you were alive and I still didn't believe him—until now."

"I'm sorry. I'll explain it later, okay? Nathan is in that operating room right now. We don't know if he's going to make it."

I looked in the room to see many surgeons scrambling around Nathan's unconscious body. He was pale and bloody. I wasn't so sure if was going to make it either.

I nodded. "I'll let it go for now. But you need to tell me. You owe me that much."

Peter silently agreed as he looked back at Nathan. As happy as I was to see Peter, I was frustrated as well. There was no sign that Peter was alive or that he never died. Adam was the only one who told me the truth. So that meant Peter's imprisonment in the Company had to be true. I couldn't blame him completely, but at the same time, why didn't he come back home when he escaped?

Pain written on his face, Peter moved away from the window and leaned against the wall across. I joined him, not wanting to see the sight myself. We didn't speak for the moments that passed. It made me feel sad that Nathan barely had the chance of living. The reason he became an alcoholic was through the grief of Peter's apparent death. Now that Peter was back, he had the chance to make things right. I guess you could say we bonded for a short time. I was the one trying to set Nathan straight through his dark hours. But it didn't matter how many times Nathan tried to push me away or how angry I became with him; he was still my brother in the end.

The door finally opened revealing the doctor in charge of the operation. He looked at us with somberly look. "I'm sorry."

That was it. That was all the doctor had to say of Nathan's unfortunate end. Peter and I slowly got up from the floor and walked into the room where Nathan's body laid. I barely recognized him. His entire chest was covered in blood and the color in his face had completely faded. All I could think about was how Claire would react to this. She didn't know him as well as I did, but he was still her father. And then there was Heidi and the boys. How would they take the news? I could only imagine Angela's emotions being his mother.

I watched as Peter placed a hand over Nathan's head. "Shouldn't have ended this way." He bent down and kissed his dead brother's forehead.

I patted on his back. "It'll get better, don't worry."

Then there was a gasp. Nathan shot straight up from the hospital bed looking at us in disbelief. It was a false alarm, again.

"Seriously," I breathed. "Does the definition of death escape us?"

"Danni, go get help," Peter ordered. "Now."

There was no point in arguing. Peter still owed me that conversation anyway. I ran out of the room and caught up to the doctor that was treating Nathan. He was surprised to say the least. Long story short: Nathan was transferred to a private room and the hospital staff was completely baffled by the idea. Apparently they couldn't even get a pulse out of him while they were operating. I didn't know what to think of it. At first I thought maybe Nathan gained what Claire had as an extra ability but I knew that wasn't possible. Then when the doctor settled Nathan in his room, he told Peter and me that Nathan was very lucky. Luck. I guess that made more sense than the problems I was running into at the time.

Peter and I waited beside Nathan's bed as he rested soundly. I glanced at Peter. This was my only chance.

I sighed. "Look, I know this is a really bad time but we need to talk about this. I know you were a prisoner to the Company for a few months after the bomb and that the reason Nathan survived was because a man named Adam Monroe healed him. But after all that was done, you disappeared. What happened? Why didn't you come back home?"

"The Company was after me," he explained. "I had to leave everything behind in order to protect you."

"So what did you do? I'm pretty sure your story is better than mine."

"I lost my memory. The Haitian got a hold of me when I was running and erased everything—even my name. The next thing I knew, I woke up in Ireland to a gang who thought I stole their iPods. Eventually I gained their trust and the head gave me box of who I was."

"What was in it?"

"Just little things of my past. Pictures and such. Didn't really bring up any memories though. Anyway, soon enough I was rediscovering my abilities and then the day came when the head was murdered by someone from the Company. His sister, Kaitlin…she went with me to Montreal and we went to the future. Almost everyone was dead due to the Shanti virus. I lost her that day."

"I'm sorry. It sounds like you cared about her."

"I did," he mumbled. "I came back to the present to meet Adam Monroe. That's when everything clicked again. He convinced me that he wanted to stop the Shanti virus from spreading so I would help him."

"He told me the same thing," I said. "Apparently he was the one that wanted to spread it."

"You met him?"

"He was the guy that broke into the house. He claimed you were alive and he wanted me to come with him to meet you. I thought he was crazy."

"He is. The important part is that we took care of him and the virus is destroyed."

"Good," I smiled weakly. "I'm sorry I freaked out earlier. With Nathan being shot and seeing you in all of the same day, you could say I was a little overwhelmed. Not to mention, Sylar."

His ears perked at that. "What?"

"Well, you're not the only one who came back from the dead."

I told Peter about my incident with Sylar. He was listening intently as I explained every detail from Sylar appearing the night before to him making his escape with Claire's blood and the high possibility of using it to gain his abilities back. He didn't seem surprised at the news though. Or even angry as I thought he would be.

"We don't know where he went," I continued. "But he's definitely coming back with a vengeance."

"And everyone else is fine?"

"Yeah. Cole said he felt great after having Claire's blood in his system which slightly concerns me."

"He'll be fine. He's Cole. How's he been anyway?"

I tried to suppress a smile. "He's been fine. Great. Awesome."

"You're bad liar, Danni," he smirked. "Tell me what's wrong."

"There's nothing wrong. I just don't know how you're going to take this. I mean didn't tell Angela or Nathan that I was dating Chad but then again Nathan did walk in on us—"

"You were dating someone?"

"Yeah, but then I caught him cheating on someone and that is over."

"How does Cole fit into this?"

I bit my lip. "He told me he loved me a couple days ago and then a month before that he kissed me. Not the smoothest move, but it's cute."

Peter grinned at me. "So are you and Cole…?"

"Yeah. We're dating. Well, we haven't really gone on a date yet since I said I loved him the night Sylar came. But it's most likely going to happen when I come back."

"That's great. I'm happy for you."

I looked at him expectantly. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"Like what?" he responded, confused.

"Like 'I told you so'? For years, you've been telling me that Cole and I were going to end up being a couple and I kept saying no."

"Oh, right. I figured it wasn't necessary." Peter got up from his seat. "Look, I'm going to head back down to the station for any updates on the shooter. I'll be back soon. Stay here with Nathan."

"Okay, see you soon then."

Peter left the room at that. Something was off. I didn't know what, but something didn't seem right about Peter. He seemed bitterer than I remembered. Then again, I didn't know what to expect from a man that came back from the dead. Maybe time is what Peter and I needed to get back to normal.

I waited in Nathan's room for a few more minutes until I decided to call Cole about the news. The call was well overdue. I walked out of the room and dialed the number outside of the room.

He answered within the first ring. "Danni?"

"Yeah, it's me," I said. "Nathan's going to be okay."

"I heard about that on the news. They said it was a miracle."

"It was. He was dead when Peter and I walked in and then all of the sudden he's breathing again. I think I've seen more people cheat death this past year than what is healthy."

"At least everything's okay. How's Peter?"

"He's still Peter, but I feel like something is off."

"Off like what?" he asked.

"Like when I first saw him, he hardly said hi. He questioned why I was there like I shouldn't have been there in the first place."

"Maybe it was just in the heat of the moment. Nathan was shot at that point."

"I guess you're right. So how are you?"

"I'm fine. I drove home after Elle drove us to Mohinder's place. My mom freaked a little that I ditched half of the school day, but I said that I was sleeping over at your house."

"You're giving her more reasons not to like me," I laughed. "I hope you know that."

"Anyway, before I went back home, Mohinder told me that he was sending Molly back to India. It was to protect her from Sylar."

"No, I get it. I'll miss her, but I understand. New York is not so safe anymore."

"Where do you think Sylar went?"

"I don't care at this point. All I know is that I need to be prepared the next time he comes."

"What do you mean?"

"I need to train myself," I told him. "Sylar was right about one thing: my ability is powerful and I'm ignoring that. So I have to work with my power to figure out how strong I can be."

"I feel like I'm dating Supergirl right now."

"Shut up. It's about time the woman wore the pants in this relationship."

"I can't remember the day where you weren't the man in this relationship."

"Ouch," I teased.

"But really, I'm happy for you. Your ability is a part of who you are. It's about time you accepted that."

"Thanks. But you'd be the superhero just for argument's sake."

"Really? Maybe we should team up then."

"Maybe."

"Danni," Peter's voice came from behind me.

I turned to face Peter. "Hang on, Cole. What's up, Pete?"

"Did you see where Nathan went?"

"He's in his room." I glanced inside the room but Nathan's bed came out empty. "Well, he was."

Peter huffed before storming off. Nathan must have snuck past me when I wasn't paying attention.

I sighed returning back my conversation with Cole. "Listen, I have to go. Nathan just disappeared while I was talking to you."

"No problem. Just call me when everything is in the clear again."

"I'll be home soon. I promise. I love you."

"I love you too."

I hung up the phone and followed Peter's stride through the hospital. I didn't have a clue as to where Nathan would go. I simply followed Peter. Soon we were out of the hospital and right across from the local church. When I spotted the camera crew peeking inside of the church, I knew where Nathan went. Peter and I followed the camera crew inside to find Nathan, dressed in a suit, kneeling next to a family as he whispered to them. Peter went behind one of the pillars while I stood beside the camera man. I didn't bother to question the gesture because I was preoccupied with the fact that Nathan would run away to a church.

It was strange. I never considered Nathan a religious man. He lied and he cheated. But coming out of death—that changes a couple of perspectives.

"Mr. Petrelli," the reporter began. "Earlier today, you were about to make a statement. You had a message to deliver. Are you ready to do that now?"

Nathan paused for a moment. He didn't have to tell me that he was about to expose us. Anyone that was different could read in between the lines of what the former congressman was about to say. Then he surprised me again.

"God is the only one with the message," he responded. "It's a message of hope and urgency, because he's not gonna wait much longer. His message is a simple one: we're all connected. Our hopes, our dreams, our children's future, reflecting back in each other's eyes. We fight our own personal battles, but we know we're not alone. Because only together can we make our short time on this planet mean something. Only together can we be the stewards of our own destiny, and we hold in our hearts one noble goal: to save ourselves, save the world."

Throughout the years that I knew Nathan, I learned but one thing: the man could speak. He completely turned the direction of his original speech around so no average person could tell the difference like we could. But here was the other scary part. He was serious. Nathan believed in the word of God all of the sudden.

Nathan turned from us and bowed down to the altar. Peter appeared next to Nathan as he began to lose his balance. He collapsed in Peter's arms. I went over to the scene and helped Peter carry Nathan out of the church as the news cameras were following us.

Once we were back in the hospital, the doctors spotted us and placed Nathan on a wheelchair where they took him back to the room. I stopped Peter before he went to follow them.

"Pete, was he like this before he got shot?" I questioned.

He shook his head. "No. He wanted to expose us, but I guess he changed his mind."

"And you were more than willing to let him do that?"

"I agreed with him. I thought the world was ready, but it really isn't."

I nodded. "We should probably go wait for Nathan to wake up again. I didn't realize he would walk off like that."

"I didn't either. It was lucky we found him. I don't think those reporters would have helped him."

I silently agreed as we walked back towards Nathan's room. The nurse had dressed Nathan back into his hospital gown and he was sleeping once again in the bed. She left us to wait for Nathan to reawaken. Peter and I didn't speak often while Nathan was sleeping. I spent most of the time texting Ava as to why I didn't go to school that day. This time I didn't have to lie. Visiting family members in the hospital was pretty normal. Then I remembered Claire. Did she know about this?

"Peter, did you ever call Claire about this?" I asked breaking the silence.

He didn't break his gaze from Nathan. "No, but she called me. She saw the broadcast like you did, but she couldn't get here as fast. I told her to stay where she was at."

I nodded. "I'll call her and let her know what's going on."

I got up from my seat and left Peter alone with Nathan. I took out my phone and dialed her number. The phone rang, but there was no answer. Odd. At the time, I would figure that she would be standing by the phone to hear the news. Regardless, she would still hear it in a message.

"Hey, Claire," I said to the voicemail. "It's me, Danni. Peter told me that you saw what happened to Nathan. Well, good news: he's going to be okay. He may not be all there in the head though. The first time he woke up he walked into the church speaking about the Bible and he collapsed. But what else can you expect from Nathan? Also, I wanted to thank you. Sylar showed up and Cole was shot. Your blood healed him so thank you. So call me back as soon as you can and I'll talk to you soon."

Once I hung up the phone, I walked back to the room to find Nathan still sleeping and Peter standing over him now. I opened my mouth to speak, but Peter spoke to Nathan first.

"I don't expect you to understand what I did to you," he whispered. "But I hope someday you'll forgive me."

I was confused by the words. What did he do?

Peter moved away from Nathan, suddenly realizing I was in the room. "Danni? How long were you standing there?"

"Not long," I answered. "Was he awake before?"

"Yeah, but then he passed out again. It'll probably be awhile until he wakes up again."

"Danni?" Nathan called out groggily. "Is that you?"

"It's me," I confirmed. "You should probably get some rest though."

"Can I talk to you for a little bit?"

I looked to Peter who nodded his head in approval. "Sure."

"I'll be waiting outside," Peter whispered to me.

Whenever Nathan wanted to speak to me alone, it was always a lecture towards my character. But now, with his new view of life, I wasn't so sure what to expect.

I took the seat next to Nathan's bed and sighed. "So? What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to apologize," he said.

I blinked. "You? Apologize?"

"I know. It's long overdue. I'm sorry I used you for selfish purposes during my campaign. You didn't want any part of it and I didn't care. But to be honest, it was just my way to spend time with my sister. You connected so well with Peter that I wanted to know you in the way he did. Even when we thought he was dead, I knew I could never build that type of relationship with you. I said things that should have never been said and I'm sorry. And more recently, I'm sorry for leaving you like that. I knew you were capable for taking care of yourself, but I shouldn't have left like that. I was looking for Peter and I didn't want to get your hopes up."

I let Nathan's words sink in. All those years I thought he was annoyed with my existence, but he was pushing away any type of relationship we could have had because he knew I wouldn't accept him as quickly as I accepted Peter. I remembered the first time I entered the Petrelli household. He and Peter were forced to join in my first dinner there. Nathan was frustrated with the fact that his parents decided to adopt a child at their age. He didn't speak to me nor spare me one glance. Peter, on the other hand, made an attempt to speak to me despite my nonverbal answers. The Nathan then was almost opposite to the one lying in the bed in front of me.

I didn't know how to respond so I simply said, "I forgive you."

"I also want to thank you."

This man was full of surprises that day.

"You were the one who stuck with me in my dark time after Peter's death," he continued. "You were trying to steer me in the right direction even though I didn't want to go there. You pushed me to believe that there was still hope in this world. So thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm just glad you're okay."

Nathan smiled. "You can thank God for that."

"All right. Now I know you're delusional." I got up from my seat. "You need your rest."

"But He did save me. I mean if we exist, why can't God?"

"Valid point, but I've had my troubles with religion. Bad things happen to good people. We work to make our lives better. That's the world we live in."

"It doesn't have to be that way. You just need faith."

"That's the problem then. I have no faith. I can be faithful to others, but with faith itself comes trust. I have problems trusting people if you haven't noticed."

"Well, there's Peter," he pointed out. "And what about Cole?"

"They're the exceptions." I looked at the clock. "Speaking of, I probably need to head back home soon. I'm already in trouble because I ditched school."

"I'll see you at home then."

"Get some rest, okay? Some might think you're a mad man," I teased as I left the room.

Peter was outside as he promised leaning against the wall beside the door.

"What did he say?" he asked.

"He apologized," I said. "Then he thanked me and he tried to make me believe there was a God. Did a bullet get stuck in his head or something?"

"No. I think he's trying to improve himself more than anything."

"Well, it's creeping me out more than anything. But at the same time I kind of like it."

"So how long are you planning to stay?"

"Not long. I have to get to school tomorrow and explain why I ditched."

"Let me at least get you a cup of coffee before you leave and maybe something to eat."

"Okay, but no hospital food. It's not the greatest. Trust me, I would know."

Peter smiled. "All right. I saw a diner just a couple doors down. We can grab something there."

"Sounds great." I embraced him. "It's great to have you back, Pete."

Peter returned the hug. "I missed you too."

Everything was starting to look up again. Both my brothers were alive and on their way back home. Granted, Sylar was alive as well. But that was an issue we were all ready to face. It was the new tide that we never expected. Nathan's traumatic experience was only the beginning in a whirlwind of everything that could and would go wrong.

* * *

><p>Hey guys! I'm back! I apologize for the long wait for this update. As I stated on my profile, I had a very challenging semester. I figured this would be a good holiday gift to my readers for sticking with me for this long. I hope you enjoy this volume as much I enjoyed writing it. Thanks!<p>

~ShatteredxDreams411


	38. Clueless

Clueless

After my lunch with Peter, I flew straight back to New York. Nathan was making a speedy recovery so Peter promised they would be home soon. Until then, I was worried about my grades. I know that sounds strange of all things to be concerned about but after I came home, I remembered that I had sent an application to NYU. Not just for admission though. It was for their dance school. And if my grades were satisfactory for them, I wouldn't even get an audition.

Then there was the slight problem of the lack of control over my powers.

Sylar's reappearance caught me off guard and I was unable to defend myself. I needed to be prepared for next time. To do that I did little exercises like controlling a small air current or lifting myself an inch off of the ground until I was able to do the big stuff that weekend in secret.

Two days had passed since my visit to Odessa. Cole was there to greet me when I arrived. It was then I remembered that we were officially a couple. I know it sounds naïve but it was something I had to remind myself considering I spent five years denying any feelings for my best friend. Apparently the news spread around fast because by the time we went to school the next morning our classmates exchanged knowing looks with us. Dylan taunted us with, "I told you so" and Ava screamed, "Finally!"

As much as I despised the attention, I didn't care who did or didn't know. I was happy. I know I said that when I was with Chad but this was different. I didn't have any doubts with Cole and there was nothing stopping us from being together. It was as if a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders.

Speaking of, Cole came over to the house more often than he usually did. I gave him a key since he came so often. I guess the whole thing with Sylar rattled him so he checked up as much as he could on me. I didn't mind though. It was just like old times except with more flirting. Plus I felt less alone in the house my family left me to take care of. But that wasn't due to Cole's visits. It was hard to explain. It was as if I could feel another presence in the house. I was never able to investigate though since I left early for school and came home late from dance rehearsal.

I left the issue alone for now. At the moment, I was currently preoccupied trying to solve a math problem while attempting to put my NYU application at the back of my mind. As predicted, Cole was there as well to do homework as we sat in the living room.

"Don't try so hard," Cole teased me. "That's the mathematician's job."

"Well not all of us can be stellar at math," I countered.

"You have a higher grade than me in this class and you hardly study."

I sighed. "I can't stop thinking about my application. They were supposed to send me a date for my audition this week. What if they threw it out?"

"Are you kidding me? They would be out of their minds if they did that. Besides, you're going to blow them off of their feet at the audition."

"I hope you don't mean that literally," I said.

His face reddened. "Oh sorry, there was no pun intended there."

"It's okay. I feel better about my powers nowadays."

"So how is the training going?"

"It's coming. I can't practice on the big stuff until I can get to the warehouse this weekend but other than that I'm making progress." I smiled. "Like when we were running for dance rehearsals, I barely felt out of breath by the end of the mile and I was running at normal pace."

"It sounds like you're getting stronger."

"Yeah and it feels great to be honest. It's tiring to ignore who you are."

Cole moved closer to me. "I haven't heard you this excited about this stuff since…ever."

"After Sylar came back, I thought, I'm never going to be normal so why give the effort and embrace what I am?" I paused. "I can help people and I think that's why I can do what I can do."

"Like a superhero?"

"I don't know. I think there's a purpose for me, but I haven't exactly figured that out yet. Until then, I'm completely content where I am now."

"Great because I'm not ready to let you go just yet."

"Me neither."

We leaned in towards each other until our lips met. The light kiss turned into a passionate one as we shoved our books off of our laps and pressed our bodies together. I opened my mouth allowing his tongue to enter. My heart raced as I ran my hand through his blond hair. I ignored my surroundings whenever I was with Cole. All that mattered was him and I.

"Well I didn't expect to run into this," a voice echoed through the doorway.

I pulled away from Cole at the familiarity of the voice. It couldn't be. But it was. My foster mother, Angela stood at the doorway appearing as cleaner than when I last saw her at the prison. Her hair was neater and with her makeup on she was able to hide more of her wrinkles.

"Angela," I said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here," Angela stated.

I got up from the couch. "No. I mean when did you get out of jail?"

"Nathan put out an early release for me shortly before he was shot in Odessa."

"So you've been here this whole time?"

"Yes."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "And when were you going to enlighten me about your presence?"

"Sooner than this but you obviously had your distractions." She glanced at an embarrassed Cole. "I see you followed my last piece of advice. Don't let me be an interruption any longer. Carry on with…whatever you'd like to call what you were doing."

Angela left up the stairs. I waited until the door shut behind her to speak again.

"Unbelievable," I muttered. "It's like nothing's changed."

"What exactly was the advice she gave you?" Cole questioned.

"Find a boy and a nice boy," I quoted. "I think I did a pretty good job."

"So now that you're not living on your own anymore, I guess I won't need to come around as often."

I sat back on the couch and punched him in the shoulder. "Please, no. I just might go to your house now that Angela is back."

Cole laughed. "I wouldn't mind that. Listen, I know we've only been dating for a couple days but don't you think we should actually go on a date?"

"Are you trying to ask me out? Because as far as I can tell, you're not very good at that."

"Fine. Would you like to go on a date with me tomorrow night?"

"I would love to." I gave him a tender kiss on the cheek.

"Great," he smiled.

Our heads moved in closer once again, but before our lips could touch a voice stopped us.

"Just because your books are on the floor doesn't mean that you're actually using the time to study," Angela chastised behind us. I didn't even hear her come back down the stairs.

"Was she a ninja at one point?" Cole hissed to me.

"Wouldn't surprise me," I replied.

It was strange. Angela never took attention to my personal life until now. I guess since she figured that Cole and I were just friends that we wouldn't be too crazy. But things were different now. I didn't realize she would take that into account. Cole and I continued our study session under Angela's discreet supervision until he left to go home.

If Angela didn't show up when she did, I would go on with my life thinking that she was still in prison because by the next morning, I was alone once again. Once I was ready, I met Cole in his jeep so he could take us to school. Besides the fact that my relationship status with Cole had dramatically changed, school had stayed relatively the same. Remember Chad? The slime-bag I dated for a couple months before Cole? Well, he didn't seem to have an inch of guilt for cheating on me with Brooke. In fact, they were in a steady relationship together now. Good. They deserved each other.

I was just waiting until he found someone else better than Brooke.

Anyway, we were half-way through senior year and it seemed as though every conversation consisted of college admissions and plans for the future. As Cole mentioned before, I was concerned about my audition for NYU. I needed to know when I needed my original routine done by. Ava, on the other hand, was worried about places such as UCLA, Harvard, MIT, and Berkley. Cole's plans were if he didn't get into Julliard or NYU, he would go to University of Virginia or a smaller college close to New York. It was hard to believe that each of us had different plans that would take us different directions but all the same we still met at the same point of our journeys for a reason. It was a bittersweet feeling more than anything.

The school day went on as it did and when the final bell rang, I walked with Ava to dance rehearsals while she was on her way to her debate team practice.

"I can't believe that didn't enter your mind," Ava exasperated. "When you're dating, it's usually implied that you go on dates."

"It's only been a couple of days," I stressed. "And with Peter coming home and college stuff, I didn't really think ahead. Besides, it's not like he hasn't been over in the past couple days."

"Those aren't dates. Those are the usual Danni-Cole study and hang out sessions. Not exactly romantic."

"Well we have different tastes then. I prefer the simple things in life, but you're expecting Cody to take you to Paris one day."

She blushed. "Not right away. One year anniversary, maybe."

Despite the disaster my date to the dance turned into, Ava's date went very well. Cody and Ava were seeing each other more often now. He seemed like a good guy. I wasn't sure what his plans were after high school were but I was assuming he would continue with music since he was the lead singer of his own garage band. Ava said they were pretty good, but I hadn't heard them myself to be the judge of that.

"So what are you and Cole doing tonight?" Ava asked.

"I'm not sure. He's going to pick me up at six and I'm assuming everything else is in his hands."

"At least you two are doing something now."

I narrowed my eyes at her.

She shrugged in response. "What? I've been waiting for this to happen since you first moved to New York."

"Let get this straight: my first relationship was unapproved and now this relationship is highly recommended?"

"Look, obviously Chad isn't the model figure for us anymore but even before that I wasn't sure about him since he barely spoke a word to any of us and only shows up at school periodically."

"His dad lives in Florida so he does independent study when he's over there," I explained earning a slight glare. "I dated him for a couple months. I picked up a few things."

"Anyway, I know Cole. He won't do anything to hurt you and I can never imagine you'd hurt him so I imagine you two will last."

I didn't know how to respond to her point of view on my personal life so I simply said, "Thank you."

We changed our conversation to a lighter subject before we went our separate ways. Dance rehearsals went on its normal course. The advanced group would prepare for the next dance competition while the younger groups would do their normal exercises. I nearly sprinted home after rehearsals to get the mail on time. My letter from NYU had to be there. It was the end of the week and if it wasn't in the mail by now, I would fly down to the school myself and demand the status of my application.

Much to my relief I found a pile of mail on the table near the door. I quickly shuffled through the letters to find the one I was looking for. _Bill…bill…bill…sports magazine? Must be Nathan's. Letter addressed to me…wait a minute! _I looked at the envelope more closely. The return address and the seal proved to me that this was the one I was waiting for. Sudden anticipation quickly turned into fear. What if they did reject me? What would I do?

Before I could convince myself otherwise, I broke the seal and opened the envelope.

_Miss Danielle Petrelli, _

_New York University's Tisch School of the Arts would like to invite you to audition for our dance program. The dates are available below. Call our office of admissions for the date that you are able to come. Bring an 8x10 full body dance photograph in your dance wear, ballet shoes and form fitting dancewear, and a resume detailing your dance experience including types of training, schools and teachers. The whole audition will last 90 minutes consisting of modern and ballet dancing classes. Then you must perform a one to two minute solo of any dancing style which will be proceeded by an interview. We hope to see you there. _

It took all of my willpower not to scream right there. I was given an audition which meant I had a chance. Now my only worry was to come up with my solo and to survive the dance classes. Then there was my date with Cole that night. I grinned to myself.

It was crazy to believe that a weekend ago, I was willing to give up the friendship I had with Cole for a relationship that was meant to break into pieces and I still believed my brother to be dead. Now, I was going on my first date with Cole, my brother was never dead to begin with and the door to NYU seemed closer than ever before.

I was utterly lost as what I would wear that night. I know that sounds pathetic, but it's true. I was about to go on a date with a guy who could have cared less if I went in my sweats. I didn't know if I should wear something that looked nice or impressed him in any way. Was I aiming to impress him? I wasn't sure. I came to the final decision to wear a nice top and jeans. It was enough for Cole to notice something different.

"Going somewhere?"

I turned to see Angela in the doorway. "Yeah, I'm going to hang out with Cole tonight."

"I saw you two together yesterday. There's no need to sugar code it."

"Right." I paused. "So have you talked to Peter since you got out?"

"I spoke to him at the hospital. He should have been back in New York today."

"And you had nothing to do with hiding his survival?"

"Even I have my morals, Danielle," she gave me a tight smile. "What the Company did to my son was unforgivable. I had no idea Peter was alive this whole time."

"Right. I just needed to know."

"I understand. Now that Peter is back, you have the chance for a normal life again. Isn't that right?"

No one besides Cole knew about my plan to training myself to have more than control over my power. I wasn't about to tell Angela that though.

"Of course," I simply said. "I better head downstairs in case Cole shows up."

"Of course. Have a good time."

"Thanks."

She moved aside allowing me to walk through. I quickly made my way down the stairs just in time for the doorbell to ring. I grabbed my coat and opened the door. Cole grinned at me.

"You have a key," I pointed out to Cole. "You could have gone vampire and snuck up on me."

"And sparkle in the sunlight? That's not really the proper etiquette," he said. "Are you ready?"

"Yes."

He offered his arm and I took his hand as he led me to his jeep.

We drove a little ways until we arrived at Central Park. I went towards the park as soon as the car came to a full stop, but Cole stopped me.

"Wait, there's something I have to show you," he said.

I nodded. "Okay."

He led me down the street until we arrived at the street corner between the drug store and the meat shop. I went to press the crossing button but he stopped me once again.

I looked at him curiously. "Is this what you wanted to show me? Drugs and poultry?"

"No." He patted the lamppost. "I wanted to show you this."

"A pole?" I crossed my arms. "You cringe at the thought of pornography and now you're suggesting a pole?"

"No! I didn't mean it like that. You probably don't remember this since I was the one who saw you and you had no idea I existed at the time."

"Can we please skip the creeper diaries?"

"Right, sorry. You were walking down the street and I was with Ava. Then I saw you. I don't know what came over me, but the next thing I know I crashed into this pole."

"I remember. I helped you up."

"Ava teased me about it for the rest of the day. It got worse when I found out that you were in my history class. But when we had our first conversation, I felt like I could talk about anything with you."

"My mom had just died two weeks before and you were the first person outside of my foster family that I told," I admitted. "I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't tell anybody unless the time came, but you just snuck up on me. It was like the minute I opened my mouth to you, I could trust you."

"I knew there was something special about you. I guess that's why I was attracted to you in the first place. How you carried yourself despite the pain you went through and how you were able to still smile even though the world gave you every reason not to. It was and it still is the most strength I've ever seen in a person."

I moved closer to him. "Thank you, but strength is nothing without a hand to hold on to. You've always been there for me and I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you for it. I know I've said this to the most annoying level, but it's true. Especially this past year. When everything changed, you were able to stay the same nerdy Cole. The minute I knew I was in love with you was when you came back even though I pushed you away. I don't deserve you, but I'm glad you asked me to dance."

"So am I," he wrapped his hand in mine. "I didn't realize how much I wanted you until that night. I'll always be there for you, Danielle Petrelli."

"And I'll be there for you," I leaned in close enough for our foreheads to touch.

We pulled into a kiss under the lamppost.

You know the saying, calm before the storm? Well, that was what was going on those problem-free few days. I was so happy to have Peter back in my life and Cole as my boyfriend that I forgot how horrible my life actually was. I know, it sounds a little dramatic, but you just wait. Not even a week later, my life would take a drastic turn.

After my date with Cole, he dropped me off at home. We ended up eating a couple of hotdogs and walking through the city shortly after our little moment. I didn't come home too late that night, but the lights were off nonetheless.

I quietly snuck in, careful not to disturb Angela. I placed my coat on the rack, closed the door behind me, and flipped on the lights. I gasped at the dark figure that appeared in front of the staircase.

I relaxed when I realized who it was. "God, Peter, you could have given me a heart attack."

"Sorry," he shrugged. "I just needed to check up on you."

"Well, I would have called if you gave me a recent phone number since the last one was cancelled." I sighed. "I'm fine."

"I tried asking mom where you were, but she said that you never told her."

"I said I was out with Cole."

"The where is what I was concerned with, Danni," he slightly growled. "Why didn't you tell anyone where you were going?"

I was taken aback by his sudden hostility. "No one usually cared. Besides, it's Cole. Where in that name screams illegal?"

"That's not what I'm worried about. It's your safety that's the concern here."

"Look, I know I had a run-in with Sylar earlier this week but I came out fine and it seems like he's not going to come back anytime soon."

"Sylar is not the problem, at least for now."

I crossed my arms. "Then what is?"

Peter stared blankly towards me. "You don't need to worry about that."

"You can't just tell me that I need to worry about something and not tell me what it is!"

"It's best if you don't know."

"For you or for me? What is up with you anyway? Ever since you came back, you seem different."

"Of course I'm different. I spent many months away from home trying to gain my memory back and then almost released a virus that could have killed the world. It's our experiences that shape us, Danni and they can change us in more ways than one."

"So you converted from optimist to pessimist?"

"You don't understand now, but you will soon," he told me. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of what's to come. Goodnight, Danni."

I watched him as he left through the front door. I didn't realize it then, but Peter was more right than I would have ever expected. Things were about to change and so was I.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! I figured this would be a nice calm chapter before the chaos that starts to ensue in the next chapter. Until next time...<p>

~ShatteredxDreams411


	39. I Am One of Them

I Am One of Them

I tried calling Peter after our strange encounter, but he refused to answer the phone. I wanted to know why he was acting the way he was that night. I could tell that he was foreshadowing something by the way he looked at me. That was a few days ago and there was no sign of him since then.

I tried calling, texting, and even coming to his apartment. Nothing. If he wanted to keep me safe, leaving me in the dark was not the way to do it. Besides, since I still had no clue what was going on, I would continue on my way. That included working on my routine for my NYU audition and practicing with my ability.

When I wasn't in class, I was at the dance studio. When I wasn't in the dance studio, I was studying and when I was on break I was looking over the routine for any improvements on the routine. Thankfully my dance coach was more than happy to help. Four days in and my legs already felt like jelly.

I'm not even going to talk about my energy level at the time. Since I could barely fit anything into my schedule, I decided to get up a couple hours early to work on my ability. It was a painful decision but it had to be done. I could be walking down the street when Sylar decides to show up again. I wasn't going to be caught off guard again. I fell asleep in class sometimes but that was normal for me where everyone else was concerned. Plus Cole knew about what was going on so he helped to cover for me and Ava thought it was the pressure I was in with the audition. It all worked out.

I was having a little bit of an issue with my powers though. Sure, I learned control a long time ago but it was putting it in practice so I would be ready to fight with them. To be honest, I hardly knew a move of self-defense. I knew enough to cause a bloody nose if that made any difference. I would sit through the _Karate Kid_ movies to grab any inspiration but none of it was really working considering none of those kids had superpowers. Then Cole brought me all three seasons of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_. It helped more than the movies. I was able to see how the airbenders in the show moved and tried my best to replicate it but then I found out that most of the moves were based on some form of karate.

When I was able to sneak away in the morning, I would go to the old abandoned warehouse which, coincidently, was where I tested out my abilities in the first place. Even after a year, no one ever thought to tear down the building or rebuild it. Of course when I got frustrated with myself, I went through my dance routine as a break. Sleep was for the weak.

Then I noticed something. I was much more graceful when I was dancing than I was normally walking around.

A crazy idea came to me from that. I began using a couple of my dance moves along with my powers to help me come up with a few combat moves. They worked! Well, they worked on the pile of boxes I was working on.

I began training myself to jump high enough in the air to gracefully go over the pile of boxes. Then I practiced swinging my legs from the ground to trip my attacker. I was taking a break when Cole arrived at the warehouse.

"Cole?" I was surprised. I didn't expect him to come. "What are you doing here?"

"You need someone to test your powers on," Cole stated. "And I'm ready to be your combat dummy."

"You really don't have to. The boxes are working just fine for me."

"But they don't really know how to fight back. It's kind of a lame fight to tell you the truth."

I crossed my arms. "And you'll be any better?"

"Ah, burn! I grew up with a brother if you remember. That's a dog eat dog world sometimes."

"So Jack has superpowers?"

Cole paused. "Don't hit so hard."

"Well, if you insist. Take a couple steps forward."

He did as he was told. "What now?"

I didn't answer him. Instead I sprinted up towards him until I leaped high enough to grip his shoulders and swing my body over his. Once I did this, I used my powers to support my upper arm strength to fling him over my head and have him land gently on the ground on his backside.

Cole breathed heavily. "Fair warning next time, okay?"

"Don't be such a baby," I teased. "Besides that gave me an idea on how it would be like if I actually wanted to flip someone over."

"Glad I could help. Other than training for war, how is your NYU audition coming?"

"It's coming. I've been working day and night on the routine."

"Speaking of, don't you think you should take a little break?"

"I'll have my break when the audition is done and over with," I stated. "Plus, Sylar is still out there. We don't know when he'll come back and I have to be ready for that."

"How long have you been up?" Cole asked.

"Since five." I was met with a disapproving glare from Cole. "I couldn't sleep so I decided to be productive."

"How are you even functioning now?"

"Coffee and Red Bull." I said that faster than I intended.

"Right, so what else do you need me to do? And please don't flip me again."

I worked with Cole on some basic combat moves such as avoiding strikes and tripping him while was on the ground. Finally, Cole was able to convince me to get out of the warehouse and relax. But even as I was watching movies at his house, I couldn't stop thinking about the moves I needed to improve on in both my dance routine and the combat moves I was learning. My fighting was going to be rusty either way due to the lack of teachers I had for that certain subject. Hopefully it would be enough to go against Sylar when the time came.

When I left Cole's house that day, I ended up going back to the warehouse to practice more. I mostly worked on jumping from place to place and the speed of my flight. I was a little sloppy but was due to my lack of sleep.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" a stern voice echoed through the warehouse.

I almost slipped off of the railing I landed on, but I quickly recovered by floating just above it. I turned over to see Peter glaring daggers at me. _Now he decides to talk to me._

I floated back down to the ground. "How did you know I was here?"

"I followed you," he answered harshly. "Now tell me what you're doing."

"I'm training. The last time Sylar came here I was completely unprepared and people got hurt."

"Someone could have seen you, Danni. What would you do then?"

"No one did. This place has been abandoned for years."

"I did and you didn't even see me coming."

I huffed. "All right, Smart Alec, what's your deal? Ever since you've been back, it's like you've been on edge. The Peter I knew a year ago would encourage this behavior."

"Things have changed."

"I think I've got that by now. I would like to know the why though."

Peter looked at me carefully. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I want to have my brother back."

"You will soon."

That didn't sound right. "What's that supposed mean?"

"I'm not the Peter you know," he informed me.

I was about to scoff at the statement, but when I blinked I realized he was right. The Peter standing in front of me had a large scar across his face and his hair was slicked back.

"I'm from the future," he said. "Four years to be exact."

"What are you doing here?"

The last time someone from the future came to the present, they brought bad news and wanted us to fix their mess. What could the Future Peter want to change?

"I came to change the past, but that's not really working."

"What's so bad that you had to come back and change it?" I questioned.

"We were exposed to the world and then they came up with a formula to make everyone special. The world has been corrupt since then."

Something clicked from that statement. "Nathan. He was going to tell the world about us…you didn't."

"It had to be done," the Future Peter said. "Nathan was going to tell the world about us."

"And you _shot_ your brother!" I snapped. "How sick did you become?"

"It was drastic, I know. But it was the only way."

"Do you know how he survived?"

"No. Thankfully he changed his mind or else I would have to…"

"Kill him?" I crossed my arms. "I get frustrated with the guy sometimes but that doesn't mean I go and blow his brains out."

"If he tells the world about us then the world turns into chaos," he shot. Peter closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm trying to fix everything. I hope you can at least understand that."

"Where's the old Peter?"

"I put him somewhere he would be safe but…"

"What happened?"

"I put him in one of the bodies of the Level Five prisoners the day of the press conference. Not too long after that Sylar came and released all of them. Peter could be anywhere now."

"Level Five? Why do you make that sound so bad?" I asked cautiously.

"Level Five is where they keep all of the specials who use their powers to commit crimes," the Future Peter explained. "These are very dangerous people, Danni. I would be careful if I were you."

"So Peter is running around with America's Most Wanted? Why hasn't he called?"

"You wouldn't recognize his voice if he did. He's the body of Jesse Murphy. I'm going to find him and I'm going to show him the future."

This Peter was different from the one I knew. He was darker—empty inside. I had a hard time processing that this would be the Peter I would come to know in four years.

"What happened to you?" I inquired. "Why are you like this?"

"When the world starts turning its back on you, you learn how to take care of yourself." He let out a heavy sigh. "I have to go. I promise this will be the last you see of me."

"Wait, what am I doing in this future?"

His lips crooked into a smirk. "You're doing a lot better than me. I can tell you that."

"What about you and me? Are we ever the same again?"

"No. But if I succeed, there's a chance that we can be again. Be careful who you trust. Goodbye, Danni."

I blinked and he was gone. I knew something was wrong with Peter but I never imagined this.

He was hardly Peter. It was as if he truly died and someone else was walking in his skin carrying his name. Then there was the issue of another apocalyptic future on the rise. The Future Peter didn't care to elaborate on how bad things actually were. I couldn't do anything now though. I barely had any leads to assist the Future Peter in stopping this future and I was still trying to work on my NYU audition. I had no choice to but to hope that this Peter would take care of everything. Perhaps the other thing I could do was watch out for any other Level Five escapees.

Apparently, Sylar wasn't the only scary psychopath out there.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! I apologize for this chapter being on the short side :( The next chapter has a couple of revelations though. I can guarantee you that. Again, I can't predict when I will be able to update as I am back in school. As always, see you until next time.<p>

~ShatteredxDreams411


	40. Distractions

Distractions

Another few days had gone by and there was no sign of any Peter that I knew. I was patient though. The Future Peter was probably running into problems trying to find my brother. No matter, I was still concerned with my own issues. My audition was coming along better since that day and so was my training.

But today I decided that I would give myself a break. Instead of getting up at the crack of dawn, I was sleeping in until the middle of the day. The feeling was indescribably peaceful and pleasing.

"Danni…Time to get up…" A hand lightly nudged me.

"No," I groaned. "We don't have to save the world now."

Don't ask because I don't remember to this day what I was dreaming about.

"Danni, it's noon."

The voice sounded familiar to me now. I squinted by eyes to see that it was Cole sitting next to me on the bed.

"Cole?" I said groggily. "What are you doing here?"

"You weren't answering your phone and you weren't at the warehouse so I assumed you were here. I just wanted to check up on you."

"What did I do now?"

"You told me that your brother is missing and there's a band of evil super villains on the loose. Excuse me for being a worried boyfriend. So what? No training today?"

I sat up straight in my bed. "I decided to take the day off. A little sleep wouldn't hurt anything. How did you get in here? Angela's usually gone by now."

"You gave me a key."

"Right, sorry, I'm still waking up."

"It's been a few days since the Fake Peter revealed himself. Are you thinking about looking for the actual Peter?"

"As many doubts that I have for the Future Peter, I trust that he will let the real Peter come back. He said he was going to show Peter the future so I have to hope that's true. If not, I have no idea what to go off on anymore."

"Well, since it's your day off, I was thinking that we can hang out today."

"I'd like that," I smiled. Anything to get my mind off of anything having to do with Peter and NYU.

Cole leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to my cheek. "I'll wait downstairs for you to get ready."

"Okay, thanks."

When Cole left the room, I pulled myself out of bed. I put on a pair of jeans, sneakers, and a shirt. I didn't feel like brushing my hair so I pulled it into a ponytail. I found Cole in the kitchen fiddling with his phone.

Instead of driving, we chose to walk around the city. We bought a couple of burgers and went sightseeing for most of the day. It was hard to believe that Times Square was only a walk away from me. Sometimes I forget I live in an enriched city that most dream about thriving in. I guess that was part of the reason I wanted to go to NYU. As much as I wanted to leave Angela, I didn't want to leave the city I called home just yet.

We eventually took the bus towards the ferries for the Statue of Liberty. We didn't plan on going to Liberty Island, but we sat on a bench that overlooked the island. It was then that I realized something.

"I've lived in New York for five years and I've never been on top of the Statue of Liberty," I mused.

Cole was purely surprised. "Never? Didn't Peter ever think about taking you?"

"No. I guess it never really came up. I can't believe time is passing so fast now. It feels like it was yesterday when I was a goofy freshman."

"You weren't goofy. You were mean."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Yes. You changed the time on Dylan's phone to make him think he was late and then you threw spit wads at our history teacher."

"First off, it's Dylan and second, I've improved…Granted, I sleep in history now but who can blame me?"

Cole put an arm around my shoulder. "Yep, same old Danni."

"Everything is going to change," I said leaning into Cole. "We're not going to be the same people we are now. We'll go different places and have different dreams."

"Maybe that's not so bad. I know that no matter how much I change, I'll always remember those who made a difference my life and I guess that's all that really matters in the end. Now are you bringing up the insight because of Peter?"

"It took him four years to be heartless, Cole. Maybe less. I want to know what happened. I mean, it sounds like that he and I aren't as close anymore. We'll probably never be."

"The future isn't written in stone. What you saw was one of many of Peter's alternate endings. I mean remember the painting we saw of you at Isaac's loft the night of the bomb? Wasn't that picture a little similar to the Peter you saw?"

"A little," I muttered. "But both looked empty. Like there was barely anything left to live for anymore. I'm a little curious about that future now that you bring it up."

"Weren't you the one that told me that reading about your future in a comic book was cheating?" he questioned.

"This is different. The bomb didn't destroy New York so the future is different now."

"We probably shouldn't be too worried about the future. You saw what it did to Peter. Not one of the greatest role models."

"He said he would take care of it anyway. I still want to do something though."

"I'm pretty sure you'll figure that out along the way."

We sat on the bench a little while longer until we decided it was time to go back. We took the bus as close as it could take us to our neighborhood. We walked through the city as we normally did, but something was off. I didn't know why. I've walked these streets back and forth without Cole by my side. I glanced around the sidewalk for any signs of danger. There were very few people on the street which would allow anyone to try anything. I looked behind me to find a thin dark skinned man with dark hair and a bald built Caucasian man following a few paces behind Cole and me. I looked away when I my gaze locked onto one of the men.

Something was off about them. The way they walked. The way they looked at me. It was like they were hunting and I was the prey. I was in a situation similar to this one the year before with agents from the Company. These people seemed different though. Instead of wearing a suit, they wore casual clothes.

I turned Cole and me into a different direction to test for sure that they were following me. Cole was about to question this, but one look at my face and he didn't speak. He glanced behind us as well to understand the situation.

The men went the same way we did. They wanted something from us and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't get much considering all I had in my pocket was a few dollars and a basic cell phone. But I had a hard time believing these were ordinary thugs. Unfortunately for them, they didn't realize who they were trying to rob from. Maybe these were the training dummies I was waiting for.

I turned into an abandoned construction site pushing Cole in front of me. Once we were behind the unpainted walls, I felt a pair of hands wrap around my waist. I spun around and blew a huge gust of wind his way. The bald man landed against one of the walls with a thud.

"I thought he said this was going to be easy, Knox," the bald man slurred to his partner in his thick Western accent. "I got kicked by a girl."

"It wouldn't be the first time," the man named Knox replied. "And he didn't say anything about this being easy, Flint."

"Who are you and what do you want?" I demanded from the men.

"Let's make this easier on everyone here and come with us," Knox said in a calm tone. "Our boss will explain everything when we get there."

"How dumb do I look? Answer my questions."

"I guess you'll have to find out the hard way."

Knox charged towards me but I blew another strong gust of wind towards his way. Unlike Flint, Knox fell backwards onto his back with a groan.

"That wasn't really nice," Flint snarled as he rose to his feet. "I think it's time for a little lesson in manners."

I wasn't prepared for what happened next. A blue flame appeared in Flint's palm and with one gentle blow came a long whip of fire making its way towards Cole and I. I pushed Cole to the ground with me narrowly avoiding the flame. I could feel the flames inching closer to us the longer we lingered on the ground.

"Follow me!" I shouted to Cole.

On my elbows and knees, I crawled as far away from the flames as I could. Flint seemed unaware that we were slipping from his wrath according to his look of triumph. Once I was sure that Cole and I were away from the flames, I knew I had to fight back.

"Cole, stand behind me!" I told him.

Cole did just that as I blew the flames back towards Flint. He seemed to realize this and spread the fire all around the interior of the building.

"You ain't getting out girly," Flint sneered.

"Not that I'm losing any faith in you or anything but what now?" Cole questioned glancing around the exits blocked by blue flames.

"I don't know," I scornfully admitted.

"You don't know?!"

"I'm thinking!"

I looked around at the fire. A thought occurred to me then. Fire needed oxygen to breathe as much as anything did else on this Earth. Flint was in control of the flames around him. If I could take away his oxygen just for a little bit then the flames would go out. But I couldn't come into contact with Flint like I did with Sylar. I had to be clever.

"I can run," I muttered.

"Run where? All of the exits are covered," Cole coughed from the smoke.

"Just trust me. Stay here."

With an extra boost from my power, I sped over to Flint. He was ready for me with a flame in his hand. But instead of running straight into him, I ran around him. And then again. And again. And more times after. At first Flint was confused that I missed and then I saw him bending to the ground gasping for air. I could feel the air leaving the circle I had isolated Flint in. Flint tried to escape but met with the tight air wall instead and went flying back in forth between the walls of the air spiral. Eventually he finally landed on the ground on conscious. I stopped running at that. Flint gasped for air and coughed from his dry throat.

I was right. The flames stopped from Flint's lack of control. I smiled at myself, surprised at my feat. I looked over to the spot I left Cole at but he was gone.

"Cole?" I called.

"Ump!" I heard a grunt from behind me.

I turned to find not only Cole but Knox as well. Cole threw a punch at Knox but Knox caught Cole's fist and jabbed him in the stomach.

I ran to them. "Cole!"

Momentarily distracted, Cole looked back up at me. Knox took advantage of this moment and pulled Cole against his chest with a strong arm around him. Cole groaned in pain at this.

"Let him go," I said slowly.

"Sure, as long as you come with us," Knox challenged with a grin on his face.

"You're one of the escapees, aren't you?" I inquired. "You escaped the Company."

"You've got that right, sweetheart. It's about time I got my revenge."

"Against who? The Company?"

"More specifically, Bennet, the Haitian, and as it turns out…your mom."

I froze. "My mom? What does she have to do with this?"

"You think I would come here without knowing exactly who you are?" He gave out a harsh laugh. "Danielle Santiago—or Petrelli, now I guess. Your mother was one of the people who locked me up."

"That's impossible. My mom wasn't involved with the Company."

"Really? Did she have blond hair, blue eyes, and a Hispanic heritage? Most of all, did her name happen to be Linda?"

I didn't answer him. First my grandpa was one the founders of the Company that abducted me and now my mother was once an agent.

Knox smirked. "Looks like you need to get your facts checked then."

"Let him go," I snapped.

"You need to corporate then. Do you know what my power is? Strength. Your fear feeds my strength and there's a whole lot of fear coming out of the both of you." Knox squeezed Cole tighter causing him to wince. "The longer you don't corporate, the more I squeeze the life out of your boyfriend."

I had to do something. Knox didn't seem the type of person to keep to his word. I could do a similar thing that I did to Flint. I couldn't run around circles without hurting Cole though. The memory of me suffocating Sylar suddenly came to mind. If I could grasp the air in Knox's lungs, I could distract him long enough to let Cole go. It was a long shot but it was all I had.

I concentrated on the air around us until I felt Knox inhale that air. Mentally, I followed it until it entered the lungs. I clenched my fist to grasp the air. Knox coughed on response. I pulled the air from his lungs causing him to release Cole.

"Sorry, some things are stronger than fear," I quipped.

Cole came by my side. I couldn't stop myself though. Something inside of me wanted to take more air from Knox's body. Even as I saw his body become thinner than his usual form, I wanted more.

"Danni, that's enough," Cole said to me.

His words drowned out from my brain. I was losing control.

"Danni, stop! He's not worth it!"

Knox bent down to the ground desperately gasping for air.

"Danni, you're killing him!"

Then it stopped. Knox coughed out blood from his dry throat.

I looked at the scene in horror. "Did I do that?"

Cole solemnly nodded. "Let's go before they gain their strength back again."

I almost killed a man. I was almost a murderer. I shook the thoughts away quickly. I couldn't think about that. I needed to get Cole and me as far away from this place as possible. I grabbed Cole's hand sped away from the building.

I brought us back to the Petrelli Mansion where Cole joined me inside. Neither of us spoke for what seemed to be ages.

"Are you okay?" Cole asked.

"You were the one getting beat up by Knox and you're asking me if I'm okay?" I snorted.

"Danni."

"What?"

"That's not what I meant."

The tears I was holding back the construction site spilled over. "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong with you—"

"I could've killed him, Cole."

"But you didn't."

"I wanted to!" I shouted. "I lost control and it was like my powers took the wheel."

"You were trying to save me and you were angry," he said in a low voice. "The important thing is that you stopped."

"If you weren't there, I don't think I could have," I choked out. "I would've been no better than Sylar."

"Don't say that."

"It's true and you know it! I don't know what I would have done if I killed him. I don't know what got into me. I was so desperate and I couldn't stop and…and…"

I broke down right there. Cole took me in his arms and held me as I sobbed. Knox wasn't the most honorable of men but he was man. His blood was almost in my hands. That thought alone terrified me more than anything. After I finally calmed down a little bit, Cole sat me down on the couch to a watch a little TV.

I heard Angela walked through the door.

"Danielle," she called out.

"I'm here," I responded with a hint of surprise.

Angela never called to make sure I was home. I heard her clicking high heels approach us until she appeared in front of us shutting the TV screen off.

"Care to explain to me as to why a construction site was nearly burnt to the ground and many of the debris were spread throughout the air?" Angela crossed her arms as she narrowed her eyes at me.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I mumbled.

"Of course you do. You're the only person I know with the ability to cause that much of a mess."

"She didn't do everything," Cole said. "There were these two guys following us. They were escapees from Level Five and they wanted Danni to come with them. Danni was defending the both of us."

"What were their names?" Angela questioned.

"Flint and Knox."

"Danielle, show me the right side of your neck."

I tensed. "Why?"

"If you want me to help you, you'll do as I say."

"I'm not sure what good it'll do." I pulled down the collar of my shirt and revealed the two black centimeter marks that I received shortly after being abducted by the Company.

"That's what thought. Come with me. We need to provide you with a level of protection."

"What is it and why do I need to be protected?"

"The mark on your neck is a tracking system, Danielle and there's a new Company on the rise that's recruited the criminals from Level Five. If they were after you, we need to figure out why. We need to get to Primatech."

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! Hey guys, I'm back! I'm so sorry about the huge delay. Life got insane again to say the least. Hopefully I can update more frequently over the course of the next few months considering I am on summer vacation. Thanks for reading again and I will see you time :)<p>

~ShatteredxDreams411


	41. Fear is the Enemy

Fear is the Enemy

Not too long after our strange conversation with Angela, we drove to Primatech or as many of you know it: the Company. I was curious about the place to say the least. My grandpa founded it and apparently my mother worked as an agent in it. Then I was abducted, brought to this facility, and my memory was wiped. So I guess a little curious was an understatement for me.

Besides, it wasn't like I had a choice in matter. Angela was more than determined to get me there even if she had to drag me by my feet.

Once we arrived and went through all of the clearances necessary, Angela led Cole and I to her office. I tried to find anything to trigger any memories but none came to mind. Everything was so plain in the hallways. Depressing almost. All of the walls and tiles were white while the doors were an ugly brown. Then there was the occasional agent in a suit to animate the hallway. The setting completely changed when Angela took us into her office.

The office was luxurious with a mahogany desk, leather couches, book shelves filled with files and a few chairs. Not the usual office I would expect an ordinary agent to have.

"What exactly do you work as here?" I questioned my foster mother.

"I'm in charge of the whole company," she explained with ease. "Now wait here."

"Why exactly do I need to be protected? I mean, no offense, but I thought that was Claire's thing."

"I'll explain that once I bring in the solution to our problem."

Angela left the room without another word.

I faced Cole. "Okay, did that sound a little weird to you?"

"Weird for Angela?" Cole mocked concern. "Nah."

"That's not what I'm talking about. I know she was a part of the founders of this place but now she's in charge? And then she's suddenly concerned about my wellbeing?"

"To be fair, those guys were going to kidnap you."

I snorted. "Well, that's a laugh. The first time I was abducted, she acted like nothing happened. Now she magically wants to provide me protection?"

"That is odd," Cole nodded. "And if it's coming from Angela…I'm worried."

The door opened with Angela emerging from the hallway followed by two tall figures. One I recognized the minute I saw his horn-rimmed glasses and the other I recognized as well but I hardly believed. I knew his cynical face anywhere.

"Sylar," I sneered at the man. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"He's your brother," Angela answered.

My mouth dropped at the news. The man that has tried to kill us all ended up being my brother. This was a lot heavier to take than Claire being my niece.

"Thank the Lord I'm adopted," was all I could say to that.

"What's he doing here though?" Cole asked.

"He's an agent," Angela replied. "He's here to help, Danielle."

"Help?" I exasperated. "He was more than willing to kill Cole and me no more than a week ago. Not to mention he killed countless others for their abilities!"

"I am aware of his faults. It doesn't change the fact that he is, in fact, my son and your brother."

"I wouldn't call the things he's done a series of faults…"

"I know I've done horrible things to you and countless others," Sylar spoke. "But it's not my fault—not completely anyway. I have this hunger that makes me want to learn more about a person's ability and that makes me kill them in the process."

I scoffed. "Wow. Just when I thought you couldn't get more pathetic. How about you own up to what you did instead of making up excuses?"

"He's right, Danielle," said Angela. "He's true ability is intuitive aptitude—the ability to understand how things work. Unfortunately, his hunger to understand more has gotten the better of him over the past year."

"I'm here to redeem myself," Sylar added. "I want to make things right."

"And becoming agent is self-rewarding?" I crossed my arms.

"It's the best he can do for the moment," Angela answered when Sylar didn't.

I couldn't find myself to believe that Sylar was more than willing to turn a new leaf. He was a good actor after all. It was hard enough to see him wearing a suit. How could I be sure that this wasn't an act? Personally, I was just waiting until the moment he slipped up. Until then, I would have to keep my guard up around him. Sylar was the reason I decided to train myself after all.

I sighed. "Fine. All of that aside, why do I need protection from this so-called new Company?"

"Their recent recruits came after you which means you are important to them somehow," the man with the horned rimmed glasses I knew as Noah Bennet answered.

I was surprised he was there. The last time I spoke to Claire, Noah was trying to hide from the Company. Something must have happened in between. Besides the voicemail I left her, I didn't hear from Claire that week since Sylar's return.

"Why would I be important to them?" I questioned.

"They're recruiting," Noah said. "You were probably next on their hit list."

"Right." I gestured to Noah and Sylar. "So why are they here exactly?"

Angela gave a small smile. "They're your protection for the time being."

"And what do you mean by protection?"

"Noah and Gabriel will be keeping a close eye on you right from the moment you leave the house to when you get home. It's the only way we'll be sure you're safe."

_No. This cannot be happening._ "So they're going to stalk me for twenty-four hours of the day?"

I glanced around at all them but they held blank expressions. "Oh my God, is this your way of punishing me for all of those times I snuck off somewhere? I'm not glass and I'm not fragile. I can take care of myself."

"I'm not doing this to punish you," Angela stated. "I'm protecting you like any other mother should."

"You're not my mother," I snarled. "Not even close."

"You're right. I knew your mother though. She would be taking the same precautions as I am."

"Another thing, when were you going to mention she was an agent for the Company?"

"And how did you find that out?"

"Don't play games with me!" I shouted angrily. "The two escapees told me that she was a part of the reason why they were locked up in the first place. So is it true? Was she an agent?"

"Yes," Noah answered. "I trained her and we worked as partners for some time."

"Why didn't anyone tell me? Why didn't _she _tell me?"

"You were young when this happened. Like with your impending abilities, you weren't ready to know."

It hurt to know that my life was surrounded by all of this and I only scratched the surface of it a mere year ago. I opened my mouth to ask more about my mother's secret life, but Angela interrupted me.

"It's getting late," Angela said. "Noah and Gabriel should be getting you home."

"I didn't say anything about agreeing to this," I quipped.

"I knew you would difficult about this. That's why I placed a tracking system in one of the objects you carry daily."

"Which would be?"

"I figured it's best to leave that part out in case you decide to strip yourself from it," Angela gave a tight smile. "Your phone also has a recording device so that Noah and Gabriel can keep tabs on you."

"This is ridiculous." I paused. "Wait, who's Gabriel?"

Angela gestured to Sylar. "Gabriel is the true name I gave my son."

I remembered Maya calling him Gabriel, but I thought it was a name he made up on the spot.

I stifled back a laugh. "Your name is Gabriel? As in the Archangel Gabriel?"

"It is now," Sylar nodded.

"You're still Sylar to me."

He didn't respond to that. Noah cleared his throat. "I think it's time we get you and Cole home. You have school tomorrow."

There was no use in arguing, I realized. I was going to be watched whether I liked it or not. Cole held onto my hand as he guided me out of the room. I didn't spare a glance at my foster mother.

The car ride was incredibly silent and awkward. Noah drove the car with Sylar in the front seat and Cole and me in the back. They would occasionally glance back at us to make sure we were breathing. Cole and I resorted to texting each other about the situation. He was as shocked as I was about Sylar being a Petrelli. I knew there was something off about that family from the beginning. Once again, I was thankful that I was the adopted one.

When we pulled up to the Petrelli Mansion, Cole left to his house in his jeep despite his offer to stay longer. I refused since I didn't want to make him more uncomfortable about the fact that Sylar was only a few feet away. They followed behind me into the house until I announced that I was going to my room. Thankfully, they let me be alone there. I didn't come out of my room all night.

The next morning, I did my usual routine before school. Once I was ready, I made my way down the stairs for breakfast. I pulled out my favorite cereal and poured milk into it. When I turned around to return the milk, I came face to face with Sylar. I let out a shriek and dropped the milk in response. With a flick of his hand, Sylar stopped the milk carton from falling mid-air.

"A little jumpy this morning?" he mused as the milk flew into his hand.

"What are you doing here?" I snapped.

"Keeping an eye on you." Sylar held up a spoon. "I thought you could use this."

I took the spoon from him. "Thanks. Where's Noah?"

"In the other room making a couple of calls. So are your mornings usually like this? Lonely?"

"I don't have to answer to you," I sneered. "It's not like Angela cares anyway."

I sat down at the table and took my first bite of breakfast. Sylar joined me, sitting across from me.

"You know, just because you're here to _protect_ me doesn't mean I have to be nice to you," I noted snidely.

"Mom wants what's best for you and quite frankly I agree with her."

I choked on my bite of cereal when he referred to Angela as Mom. "Say what?"

"You're practically alone in this house all day," he continued. "You were an easy target for them to spot."

"I'm not in this house all day…it gets creepy. Besides, I'm busy trying to put together the routine for my NYU audition so you could say I'm busy."

Although I meant that as retort, I didn't mean to let my impending NYU audition slip. Besides my friends at school, I never told anyone else about it. Angela didn't know about any of my plans for college obviously. It never came up in my few conversations with Nathan and as for Peter…I had yet to tell him. My family would be last to know about my intent to go to NYU.

"NYU?" Sylar raised a brow. "Aren't you setting your standards little high?"

"It's a school I want to go to and I'm willing to work for it," I replied nonchalantly.

"And what do you mean by routine?"

"I'm trying to get into their dance program."

"You're a dancer? And Claire's a cheerleader. Funny, how poetic life can be."

"It's not poetic. It's the pure decision that I wanted to pursue a career in dance."

"And I'm assuming you're having a little help from your ability?"

"Why are you doing this?" I inquired suddenly. "You've spent your existence as a serial killer trying to get my ability. Why are you trying to talk to me?"

"I'm your brother now. Excuse me for trying to get to know my sister."

I shook my head. "No, you're not. I was adopted five years ago because my mom died and no one knows who my dad is. If you want to call yourself my brother, you need to earn it."

"Danni, where are you?!" Ava's voice echoed throughout the house.

I didn't have to answer her. Ava marched into the kitchen within a moment shooting me a glare.

"We're going to be late for school and you're eating cereal?" she placed her hands on her hips.

"It's Lucky Charms and how did you get in here?" I asked.

"Cole gave me a key so I can drag you out to the car." Ava pulled me up to my feet and turned her attention to Sylar. "Wait, isn't that a sub we had last year? Mr. Taylor?"

I opened my mouth to answer but no words came out. I obviously didn't how to come up with a lie for this particular person.

Sylar noticed my struggle and spoke. "I'm Gabriel, Danni's brother."

Ava's eyes grew. "Danni's brother?"

I pushed Ava out of the kitchen. "You know what? You are right. We should go to school now."

"When were you going to tell me that our history sub was your brother?"

"Not by blood. I'll explain on the way."

"Have good day at school," Sylar called out after me.

During our ride to school, I told Ava about "Gabriel" and our recent discovery that Angela had given up a child for adoption. Of course, I didn't mention the part where my apparent foster brother posed as our history sub to kill me. By the time we arrived at school, I told Ava all she needed to know at the moment.

"It's kind of strange," Ava mused as she jumped out of Cole's jeep.

"Everything about it is strange," I responded.

"I mean strange like your foster parents giving up a child for adoption and then adopting you some odd years later."

I let myself out of the jeep. "But does it really surprise you? I've lived with the Petrellis for five years and everything that they do never makes any sense."

"At least you have a few more months until you're legally allowed to leave," Cole reminded.

"At least."

The bell rang for our first class. In response, all of us sprinted towards the front of the school. I dropped one of my books on the way in the spur of my rush. I realized this and turned around to pick it up. I looked up to find a white van parked across the street from the school. Inside of the car was a man with horn rimmed glasses and another with black hair slicked back. Rolling my eyes, I continued my run to class.

I couldn't go through the school day without being constantly reminded that I was being watched. Even if I couldn't see the van, I knew Noah and Sylar were listening to every word was saying with my friends and what they were saying to me. Dylan picked a bad day to tell me about his fascination with Miley Cyrus. The final bell rang, but I didn't go with Cole to go home. I knew if I went back, I would be in the same situation I was that morning and I wasn't ready to deal with that just yet.

As a solution, I went to the dance room to practice my audition. There weren't any dance rehearsals so my coach allowed me to borrow the space for a couple hours. For my routine, I was trying to stick to mainly contemporary since that was one of the major focuses of the major. I worked on any dance moves that were rusty and ran through the routine many times. Each time, my feet progressively were bruising with pain and my ankles were on the verge of giving out. On the bright side, my routine was looking better from what I could tell in my reflection in the mirrors around me.

I was so entranced with my routine that I didn't notice to two suits walk into the room until I twirled around to face them.

I rolled my eyes. It was nice while it lasted. "You know, for stalkers you're failing at your job right now."

"Angela wants you home before it gets dark," Noah informed.

I ignored them and turned the volume higher on the stereo. "I don't remember Angela caring what time I came home from school or caring at all actually."

"Danni, you know what's a risk here."

"I know. I'm a new target for the new company yet Angela is exercising restraint to make sure I don't land up in their hands. Why is that exactly?"

"She's in charge of your wellbeing. You can't blame her for being concerned."

"Concerned? Yeah, because she's expressed concern for me in the past."

"You don't have to be so difficult, Danielle."

"Well excuse me for having trust issues with both of you," I snipped. "Noah, as much as you've proven yourself, you still abducted me a year ago and Sylar, do I need to get into the specifics? So I'm sorry for being what you call, difficult to corporate with."

Noah moved past me and shut the stereo off. "I'd like to see you dance without music."

"I need to rehearse for my audition which is barely a week away now."

"You can do that at the house."

Sylar surprisingly spoke out against the act. "Noah, if she needs more time—"

"Let me handle this, Gabriel," Noah interrupted. "I have experience this field."

I crossed my arms. "And that field would be?"

"Parenting. In this case, you're the child that refuses to go home and listen to their elders. So what do you do? You start by taking away what they value." Noah gestured to the silent stereo. "Then you go on to say that they're coming home whether or not they like it and you'll drag them by their feet if you have to. If that doesn't work, you take whatever resource they have left of communication so that you isolate them enough to the point where they are desperate enough to listen to their elders. Now, do I need to do that with you, Danni?"

I would be lying if I didn't say that I was slightly frightened by Noah's passive aggressive behavior. I barely knew Claire's dad so I was taken aback by this sudden change of personality.

I avoided his gaze as I went to grab my bag. "Fine, you didn't have to be so stingy about it."

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! Sorry for the extremely late update. As per usual, school is taking a huge toll on my writing time. Hopefully I can get something up soon. I appreciate the patience.<p>

~ShatteredxDreams411


	42. Underwater

Underwater

As luck would have it, the one person who wanted me home wasn't there. There was no sign of Angela when Noah and Sylar walked me through the door. I knew this would happen anyway. Angela didn't come home until well past dinner time. She just wanted to show some way to exercise control over me to prove to me that she was the parental figure of the household. I constantly reminded myself that I was months away from turning eighteen.

I made my way up to my room, but Noah stopped me.

"Where do you think you're going?" he inquired.

"To my room. I have homework," I replied as if it was obvious.

"And how do we know you're not going to fly out the window?"

"Why would I do that?"

"To run off to that warehouse of yours and become Buffy."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "How did you—?"

"The Company has eyes and ears everywhere. If I know where you go on your spare time then the new Company should as well."

"Has the definition of privacy escaped you?"

"No. Your safety simply replaced it."

"Let's get one thing straight: I am not damsel in distress," I growled. "I do not need to be protected. I know how to defend myself."

"Yeah because your run-ins with Sylar went so well," Noah mocked agreement.

"It's a learning curve…"

"Either way, you can do your homework down here where you can't run off."

I didn't bother to argue with him any further. After a glare in his direction, I trudged to the kitchen table where I scattered all of my books.

Not even my math homework could get my mind off of the fact that Sylar was watching my every move. I would have texted Cole, but he was busy in rehearsal for his latest play. I tried Ava, but she couldn't talk because she was "studying." I stand corrected when I said that the house was creepy when I was alone. It was terrifying with a former serial killer and a questionable agent standing in the same room.

"How is the homework coming?"

Speak of the devil.

I didn't look up at Sylar. "It's coming."

"So, what were you doing in the warehouse?"

I glanced up at Sylar with a smirk. "Planning world domination."

"I'm being serious."

"Fine, you really want to know?" I closed my textbook and stared right at him. "I was teaching myself to defend against people like you. It came in handy when those guys ambushed me."

"What happened during that fight anyway?" Sylar questioned as he took a seat across from me. "You looked pretty distraught when Angela brought you in yesterday."

"I took care of them."

"As in…"

"As in I didn't kill them but I slowed them down so Cole and I could get away."

"You're hiding something, Danielle," Sylar taunted. "I can see it through your eyes. You're a bad liar."

"I'm not lying. That's the way it happened."

"But you're leaving something out."

"Again, why are psychoanalyzing me?" I snapped. "What makes me so special?"

"I'm just trying to understand the situation you were in. As for the other times, you're different. Every time I think I have you figured out, there's a new layer to the story."

"Guess what? I'm a person—not some novel you're trying to skip to the end to. So stop trying to pretend you know me."

"You're right. I don't know you, at least not yet. All I'm asking is what happened at the construction site."

If Sylar was trying to gain my trust, he was failing at that. Trying to peel me layer by layer wasn't exactly uplifting.

I gathered my books and stuffed them in my bag. "I don't care what Noah says. I need my privacy and my room is where I'm going to get it."

I grabbed my bag and stormed up to my room despite Noah's calls to get me to come back down. I slammed the door behind me, taking in the calm silence. I glanced at a photo of Peter and me on my desk. We were making goofy faces while placing bunny ears behind each of our heads. It was taken on my first day of junior year. Looking back, it seemed so long ago. Life seemed so much simpler then.

I missed Peter even more now that I knew he was alive. Waiting for him to come back was more painful than moving on from his apparent death. I knew he would come back but all the same I wanted him there with me now.

Thankfully Noah didn't come to interrogate me as continued to work on my homework. I guess he finally got the message. I wondered if Claire was ever this difficult with him. Since she was Nathan's daughter, I was going to assume that Noah experienced a similar argument with Claire as he did with me.

_Buzz!_

I jumped in surprise. I looked down at my phone to see that Cole sent me a text message. _Strange. He doesn't get out of rehearsal for another half hour._

I shrugged and read the message.

"Got out early. Wanna hang out in Central Park by the fountain?" it read.

"Can't. I've got Tweedledum and Tweedledumber watching my tail," I replied.

Cole responded quickly with, "So? It's not like you haven't snuck out before ;)."

I read the message over again. Cole wanted me alone obviously and I didn't want to take my personal Special Services guards with me. An hour without them wouldn't hurt.

"I'll meet you in a few," I answered.

I closed my phone and tucked it in my pocket. I peered out of the door to make sure no one was listening to my every move. Sylar leaned against the wall next to my door but he was more preoccupied with staring into space. I quietly went to the window to make sure Noah wasn't waiting on the ground. As luck would have it, he wasn't. I slowly opened the window until the gap was large enough for me to crawl through.

With careful footing, I stepped on the ledge of my window. I let myself fall to the ground with support from my powers allowing me to land on the ground with grace. After a quick glance around the area, I sprinted as fast as I could to Central Park.

So far Noah didn't notice I was gone. But I knew it wouldn't be that long until he did realize that I had run off. I wasn't completely desperate to see Cole, honestly. As much as I loved him, I wanted a chance to get away from Sylar. I was more than happy to take that chance.

I stopped running when I approached the fountain in the park. I sat on the edge of the fountain and waited for Cole to arrive. It was then I noticed how strange the situation was. There was hardly anybody around. Central Park attracted many visitors and locals alike. Where were they now? And what about Cole? Why did he suddenly want to meet in Central Park when he could have come by the house and asked?

I took out my phone and dialed Cole's number. The first few rings felt like hours due to my sudden paranoia. Then the ringing stopped and I heard someone breathing on the other line.

"Cole?" I asked.

"Sorry, I think you have the wrong number," a different voice chilled. "But let's chat anyway."

Flint appeared in front of me with a sinister smile. "It's good to see you again, sweetheart."

I jumped up to my feet in response. "Get away from me."

"No can do," a voice said from behind Flint. Knox walked in visible sight holding Cole's phone up. "The boss wasn't happy with us when we didn't collect and we're not going to let that happen again."

"If getting you to come to us was going to be this easy, we would have done it a long time ago," Flint remarked with amusement.

"Don't worry, we didn't hurt your boyfriend," Knox reassured. "If anything, he's worried about his missing phone. You hurt me and my friend the last time we saw each other. You almost killed me to be honest. I had a vendetta against your mom but now it's personal."

"I thought you needed me alive," I said.

"Oh, we do. He didn't say anything about bringing you in one piece though."

I didn't have any time. I knew if I hesitated by the slightest, it would cost me. I leaped back on the edge of the fountain and sprinted across the rim until I jumped on the concrete to continue the run. I concentrated on my powers once again but nothing happened. _Come on. Not now of all times!_ I tried and tried again but still nothing. I was running at normal speed.

I glanced back to see that Knox was not too far behind me. I tried to keep fear at the back of my mind but it was nearly impossible in this situation. I snuck out of the house without telling anyone where I was going. I was going to need a miracle if I wanted to sleep in my own bed that night.

I turned the corner into the bridge over the river. I wanted to keep running but I stopped on my tracks when I saw Flint on the other side. I spun around to find Knox on the opposite side as well. I was surrounded. I gazed down at the river. _No, Danni. That's suicide._

However as both men began to close in on me, I was up for any option. I held in my breath and ran to the edge of the bridge. _I'm going to regret this._ Once I was on the ledge, I dove head first into the water.

At first I felt a rush of cold water hit my face and the rest of my body. When I was completely submerged into the water, I heard a faint ringing in my ears and my vision was blurry. Through the waves of the water, I could see Flint and Knox's figures looking down at that lake before they ran off. It wasn't long after that my lungs were begging for air. I tried to move up to the surface of the water but my body continued to sink.

I have a confession. I know you're going to think it's ridiculous but here it is: I have no idea how to swim. My mom never took me to lessons and I didn't bother to learn. I'm a city girl. There was hardly a body of water where I lived.

In that moment, I realized the grave mistake I made in my attempt to get away from Flint and Knox. I was running out of air and energy to fight any longer. Whoever said drowning was the worst way to die was right. I could feel every part of my body fighting to stay alive even though it was breaking down as it was doing it. I let out my last bubble of air before my vision became blurry. Right as I thought I was gone, my miracle finally arrived.

An arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me back up to the surface. My first breath above water was refreshing to say the least. I was too worn out though to notice who my savior was. The stranger continued to pull me along the water. As we approached shore, they took me into their arms and carried me to the grass where they placed a blanket around me.

I glanced back up to see that my savior was Sylar, drenched in lake water as well.

"Noah's on his way," he informed me. "What did you think you were doing?"

"Drowning," I replied hoarsely. "Why did you save me?"

Sylar sat next to me on the grass. "We're family. We're supposed to look out for each other. What happened?"

I figured there was no point in hiding that part from him so I told him. "I got a text from Cole to meet him here but it was Flint and Knox. I ran and jumped in the lake when they cornered me."

"Why didn't you use your ability?"

"It wasn't working. I guess I was so scared that it stopped."

"Does this have something to do with what happened last time?"

I didn't answer him.

"Danni, you need to tell me what happened if you want this problem solved," he reasoned.

"Fine," I held the blanket tighter around me. "Knox was hurting Cole so I tried to suffocate Knox like I did to you. He let go of Cole but I didn't stop. I didn't _want_ to stop. If Cole hadn't stopped me, I could have killed him. My power's dangerous."

"A new layer," Sylar mused. "Knox brought out an unpleasant memory so you were scared to use your power against him because you didn't want to hurt him again. At least not that way."

"You got all of that just from what I said?"

"That and I've spoken to you more than once, Danni. So of all the things you know how to do, you don't know how to swim?"

"I didn't think it was necessary. I prefer running over swimming any day."

"So your real mom, what was she like?"

"Why?" I questioned.

"I'm curious. You have the luck to remember who your real mother was."

"She was great," I said. "She always had something to say whenever I needed to hear her voice. We weren't rich, but we were okay with that. Most of all she beautiful, kind, and assertive when she needed to be. She was the best mom you could ever ask for."

"Do you know if your mom was special?"

"Angela said that my mom knew I would be different so I'm assuming she was. Lately, I feel like barely know her."

"She was trying to protect you. You were too young to understand how extraordinary you would become."

"I know. I just wish I could talk to her one more time. Tell her about everything that's happened to me and what I want to happen. She was the one that wanted me to go to college. My mom gave up college to raise me. I wish I could tell her that I miss her and I'm going to keep fighting."

"I think she already knows that."

I could see the faint smile on Sylar's face. It wasn't smirk as I was used to from him but a genuine smile. I don't know why I opened to Sylar about my mom. No one knew that little fact about her.

"Danni! Gabriel!"

I turned to find Noah running up to us. I slowly came up to my feet to face him with Sylar's help.

"What did you think you were doing?" Noah demanded. "They could have gotten you and it would be too late by the time we realized you were missing."

"I thought it was Cole," I said. "Excuse me for lack of trust issues. How did you find me anyway?"

"Gabriel checked to see if you were in your room. You weren't. Luckily you had the sense to bring your phone."

"So the tracking system is in my phone?"

"That and the mark on your neck. Your phone was faster to track. What were you thinking?"

"Are you really surprised? I feel like I'm being suffocated every time I'm next to you. I understand Angela's a little worried but this is being paranoid."

"You saw what happened when we let things go your way for five minutes. We have your best interest in mind but you refuse to listen to that."

"Quit it with the parent-less lecture!" I snapped. "Do you think I don't know that lack authority figures I have in my life? News flash, I didn't ask for any of that. I didn't ask for any of this. But when you're twelve years old with no mom and foster parents who could care less what you do, you learn how to move on from there. I mean this will all respect, Claire's lucky she had you as her father because it's hard being reminded that you are just the girl that lost her mom. Nothing more. All I'm asking for is a compromise. No more of this 'you'll listen to me or else' dot dot dot crap."

I waited for Noah to respond to my outburst. It was hard to tell whether he was surprised or annoyed by the blank expression on his face.

He sighed. "I'll admit I was a little harsh on you. I was trying to the job and I forgot you didn't want to be in this situation as much as I did. We'll still be here to watch over you but we'll try to allow more wiggle room as long as you're a little more cooperative as well."

I nodded. "That's fair enough. So what now?"

"You're grounded. We're heading back to the house."

"Figured."

"I hope you don't mind when I say that you are more like your mother than you know. I should have known you'd pull something like this."

"Thanks…and yes, you should have known."

With Sylar and Noah on opposite sides of me, we walked towards Noah's car. There was so much I didn't know about my mom. Did she have to deal with men like Knox and Flint on a daily basis? I tried to think back to those constant moves we made because of her job. Was that why we moved so much? For a job as a company agent?

If only I could speak to her once more, I would be able to have closure with everything.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! Until next time :)<p>

~ShatteredxDreams411


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